Reminder
by Nate-Mihael
Summary: They started touching more. Grandpa thought it was because they were finally getting along. He didn't need to know that they did it to remind each other that they were alive. Set after 'Secrets of the Omnitrix', BWEN.
1. Chapter 1: Comfort

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10. There'd be more fluff if I did.

Set after _Secrets of the omnitrix._

* * *

They started touching more. That was probably the most noticeable change.

Not that they never touched before, they did plenty: a kick to the shin here, a flick to the nose there, even the occasional wet ear (and hadn't _that _been an awful way to get woken up. Who knew Gwen had it in her?).

But in the two weeks following the omnitrix's near self-destruction, their touches had gotten different. Whereas before he'd have been thrilled to get Gwen soaked with a water balloon or something, now he'd sooner go for the ticklish spots on her sides. Where before she would happily kick him to the curb with her (admittedly) mad karate skills, lately he was likelier to get put into a stranglehold than to get a butt-whoopin. Whatever gave them an excuse really.

And the strangest development, as least compared to before, was that the touches extended to, well, friendly contact too. They'd walk closer together while going into the mall; instead of shouting at each-other to get their attention they'd tap the other, or in the case of Gwen just outright grab Ben and drag him over to whatever caught her interest. Usually dweeb stuff. Why she felt the need to grab him for that he didn't know, but he held onto her anyway. Wouldn't want to lose her in the crowd.

Not that he was one to talk about taking any excuse for contact. In the second week after his- their- space adventure, after a long day of fighting more alien activity then he cared to remember, he decided that the best place to grab a nap (and annoy Gwen, because annoying the dweeb gave him life) was by using her lap as a pillow while she sat reading in the booth. He expected an outburst. A spell. A karate chop to the face. What he got instead was a grunt and a hand absently stroking his hair. The motion had sent him off to dreamland in no time. He'd never tell her, but that was the best sleep he'd had since coming back to Earth. He'd woken up to the RV basked in the light of sunset and Gwen's hand still tangled in his hair, her sad green eyes looking down on him lost in thought. He knew that his eyes were the same.

Grandpa took it in stride, seemingly happy that they were finally getting along. He just saw two kids arguing half the time and spending the other half in companionable silence (even when they did speak, it was usually softly). Ben was fine with that. Making their grandfather happy was one of the few things Ben and Gwen could agree on. He'd been their rock throughout all of their lives, a shoulder to cry on. But he didn't need to know about this; this was their burden to carry.

He didn't need to know that he'd wake up every other night in a cold sweat from nightmares, or from a choked gasp from the bunk beneath him, followed by muffled sobs as Gwen buried her face in her pillow. He didn't need to know how desperately he needed to check the watch as often as he could to be sure it wasn't counting down. Didn't need to know that he all but crashed out of bed after his nightmares to check on Gwen. Didn't need to know that his heart started racing whenever he wasn't sure where she was. Didn't need to know that his first instinct whenever the bad guys showed up was _not_ to kick their butt, but to pick Gwen up and get her as far away from danger as he could.

Grandpa didn't know that the touches were their way of telling each other that _they were alive. _That he wasn't going to explode. That she hadn't been eaten by a Wildvine. They needed the contact to stave of the fear. _They_ needed to know.

* * *

Waking from sleep to the sound of her cousin calling her name while he was crashing out of bed _should _have pissed Gwen off. It used to. He pissed her off just by breathing. He used to at least. Her relationship with Ben had gotten a lot more complicated over the summer.

But this was far from the first time he'd woken her up, or vice-versa. She doubted it would be the last time.

She shot up in bed just in time to see Ben scramble up from the floor, eyes wide with fear and tears. As he all but launched himself toward her bunk she caught him halfway and hauled him onto the cot.

"You were gone- you were gone- please don't go not again-"

Gwen just held him closer as sobs wrecked his small frame, whispering comfort. Nightmares about his own near-death experience would get a panicked gasps and a tear or two out of him, but only reminders of _her _close call could sent him into a blind panic like this. She could feel his small heart hammering in his chest as she pressed it to hers (a small heart, but so big at the same time).

Just weeks ago she would have – well she wouldn't have just brushed him off. She wasn't that heartless. But she sure would not have had the patience with him that she had now. It was only fair ththough; two days ago it had been her that climbed into his bunk. She'd woken up the next morning with her head in Ben's lap, the boy snoring softly as he sat up against the headboard. His muscles had been stiff all day from sleeping like that. He'd never complained about it though.

Gwen kicked off the covers, pulled him in and pulled them back on, all the while never letting go of the small hero. The cot wasn't really big enough for two people, but they were close enough for it not to matter. She settled back onto her pillow, laying on her side with Ben's face buried somewhere in her neck and collar area, his arms around her waist. She smiled fondly.

"Grandpa is never going to let us hear the end of it if he finds us like this in the morning, doofus." She honestly didn't really care. Plus it was a cold night, they had plausible deniability.

Ben snorted tearily and snuggled even closer. "If he's got a problem with it he can bring a crowbar. I'm not moving."

Gwen rolled her eyes but didn't protest. Let grandpa Max think that they secretly got along, or snuggled. He didn't need to know that _not _touching Ben for a while sent her into a panic. Didn't need to know that whenever Ben transformed back into himself, she'd look at the omnitrix to check if it wasn't counting down. Grandpa didn't need to know that she didn't dare to step foot inside the forest they were camping at the edge of without the doofus in tow. He didn't need to know that the only time she ever felt safe anymore was when Ben was with her.

That was probably going to be a problem in the near-future. They were three days out from Bellwood and not nearly stable enough to be separated. She tightened her hold on Ben. _Not while I have anything to say about it._

"Hey, Gwen?" Ben's whisper snapped her out of her thoughts, and she backed up a little in their embrace so she could scoot lower, looking him the eye. She'd always been proud of her eyes, and used to think that having to share them with _Ben _of all people was terrible. Now, as they gazed at her with gratitude, she didn't mind at all.

"What is it doofus?" She muttered, trying to act annoyed. It was a paper thin act to satisfy what little remained of her dislike of him. There wasn't nearly anything left.

"Do you-" he gulped, turning a little red. "Do you wanna hang out when we get back to Bellwood?"

What a ridiculous question. She would barely last a day without him, or he without her. They both knew it.

She scoffed and smirked at him. "Well, I suppose, if you can't sleep without your new teddy-bear. Or am I a stress toy?" Gwen teased him.

Ben flushed crimson but didn't skip a beat. "Puh-leeeease. I've just gotten so used to your dweebiness, I gotta wean off or I'm gonna go crazy from shock when I meet sane people."

"Stress toy it is. I feel so objectified."

"Gwen," Ben grinned sheepishly. "we both know I don't know what that word means."

Gwen snickered. "I guess I'll have to stick around to teach you then. Can't have you slack of on your vocabulary. Or your math."

Ben groaned. "Great, now you're gonna tutor me? I get enough school as it is!"

Gwen rolled her eyes. "You sleep through all the school you get, doofus. And then sleep through your homework."

Ben shrugged, quite a feat considering they were still a tangled mess of limbs. "Lets see if you can keep me awake for it than." he challenged. Gwen's smirk returned tenfold, making Ben eye her nervously.

"Oh, I think I've got that covered." She said, sneaking a hand under the hem of his shirt to tickle him.

"Gwen!" Ben tried to smother his own laughter while fighting her off. It was a losing battle as she managed to roll over him and pin him beneath her. "No fair!"

"All's fair in love and war!" She declared triumphantly, although she did stop tickling him, allowing him to catch his breath beneath her. She hovered over his face with a catlike grin, though a twinge of worry wormed its way into her eyes. "Feeling better?"

Ben took a few more breaths to quiet his racing heart. "Yea, much better. So is this love or war? Asking for a friend."

"You tell me, doofus." Gwen shrugged and pecked him on the tip of his nose lightly before rolling of him partially and laying her head on his chest. "Lets get some sleep, tomato."

Ben, living up the nickname, grumbled about unfairness once more before he burrowed back into their embrace. Gwen felt him peck the crown of her head and smiled to herself. She didn't know how long it would take for them to heal, or how long it would take till they stopped needing each-other like this. But for now she'd treasure the blanket of safety and affection that Ben's touch offered.

Gwen wouldn't have nightmares tonight, and neither would Ben. Not if she had anything to say about it.

* * *

Hey all! This was my first Ben 10 fic. There's some romance undertones but I decided to keep it vague as I wanted to focus more on the comfort (and snuggles). Hope you enjoyed! (Edit: I fixed some grammer errors and added some sentences, story's the same though).


	2. Chapter 2: Courage

Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10. I do own a Ben 10 mug. It catches my tears when I think about not owning Ben 10.

* * *

Ben was playing Sumo Slammers in the RV when his heart started racing. Checking the omnitrix, he put his game down and rushed to the door. Standing in the doorway, he looked around looking for Gwen. He found grandpa first, enjoying the sun in a lounging chair, but also eying the forest wearily. Ben quickly understood why; at the edge of the forest his cousin stood. Her shoulders were tensed and he could see her pick up her right foot, as if to make a step, and put it back down with a huff. He couldn't see her face, but he didn't need to. Her jaw was clenched, her eyes were spitting fire. He'd seen it so often.

Taking a breath to calm his racing heart, Ben walked up to grandpa Max and told him that he was going to show Gwen a small lake he'd found a few minutes out in a clearing in the forest. The old man nodded but did not take his troubled eyes of Gwen. Ben nudged his shoulder and grinned encouragingly when his grandfather looked at him. "I got this." He told him and Max nodded in response.

"Don't take too long, we move out after the morning rush."

Ben nodded and wasted no time, walking over to where I saw Gwen still struggling to take a step. Coming up beside her, his fingers brushed hers. An invitation. Her hand reached back and clasped his. He could feel her shaking as they stood there for a long moment. She looked at him, face no longer fierce but a strange mixture of abject fury and helplessness. Ben didn't let on, but that expression always shocked him; Gwen always knew what to do. Her not knowing was like the sun rising in the east: if it happened, something had gone horribly wrong. She turned to glare at the ground between her feet, her teeth gritted. "I will not be this weak." She hissed, more to convince herself than him.

Ben looked at the trees before them, his mind going back to the Wildvine group they'd encountered weeks ago. Of hearing Gwen scream for help as she was dragged under… He shook himself. Gwen needed him now. He could have his meltdown when she was okay.

Burying his disquiet, he gave her the same grin he'd given grandpa. "I'm gonna go into the forest, there's a cool lake there. Wanna come keep me from doing something stupid?" He waggled his eyebrows in challenge.

Gwen glanced at him and rolled her eyes. "I suppose. You'll manage to stumble over Vilgax somehow if I leave you alone for five minutes." Gwen turned her gaze back to the forest and her eyes sharpened again, determined. "Lead the way, doofus."

He squeezed her hand. _That's the spirit._

* * *

Following behind Ben, Gwen made a point of stepping on every tree root she could as they trekked through the forest. She even picked up a branch and used it to give tree trunks a wack as well as she passed them. She could feel Ben's amusement.

"Stop laughing!"

"I'm not laughing!" He laughed as he said it though. "Also, I think you missed a root there."

"Thank you." She said, and stomped on the offending tree limb. It did no damage, but it made her feel better. "And you were thinking of laughing." She grumbled, whacking a nearby tree so hard that her stick broke. Before she had a chance to mourn its loss, Ben pulled her into a clearing where a small, crystal clear lake sparkled in the sun. The boy released her hand and sat down in the grass near the edge, turning his face to absorb the light. He sighed happily.

"That's the stuff." He murmured. Not liking the distance, Gwen moved over and set down right beside him, their legs nearly touching. She immediately felt a little better, even if she was still embarrassed about her small rampage in the forest. She wanted him to understand that tree roots still terrified her, that her plant abuse had less to do with anger and everything to do with her lost sense of safety. She had no idea how to say it without sounding pathetic though, and what would be the point? Ben already knew. He'd held her as she dreamed after all.

"Hey, remember Gwendolyn?" Ben asked offhandedly. Gwen snapped out of her thoughts and was confused for a second before she realized he was asking after her future counterpart. She scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Pretty hard to forget your future self, doofus." Ben bounced a little where he sat.

"I know right? You could fly! And throw around all sorts of spells!" He continued excitedly gesturing for emphasis, making a wooshing noise as he thrust out his hand to mimic her casting.

It was so bad that it made her snicker, then outright laugh at him. "Yeah, I'm gonna be awesome." She boasted, looking at her hands and feeling the magic thrum through her body. Gwendolyn hadn't been weak. She couldn't be. The doofus would croak in a day if she gave the universe half a chance. She clenched her hand. Gwendolyn was_her._ "I am awesome." It didn't sound like a boast there, more like a reassurance.

Ben grinned at her, eyes twinkling. "Exactly, so don't go around saying you're weak. The power of dweebiness will destroy all your enemies." He declared imperiously before bursting into a fit of giggles, falling on his back and clutching his belly. Gwen rolled her eyes so hard she that she was sure she was going to pass out.

'_P__ower of dweebiness'? __Cheeky little..._ Rather than fly of the handle as she would have before, she planned her revenge. If Ben was in a mood to stroke her ego, then having a little fun couldn't hurt. "The flying looked really cool. Much more graceful than Stinkly." She needled.

"Not much of a victory there, but I guess you're right." Ben retorted, closing his eyes as he stretched on the grass. Gwen opted to remain seated, she'd get enough grass stains on her as it was.

"And I got a college degree. Glad to know that's going to pan out well." She continued ponderously.

"Yup, still a nerd after all those years. So proud." Her cousin intoned sarcastically, absently. He was running on autopilot. Good.

Gwen nodded sagely before springing her trap. "And I grew up to be hot too. That's one teenage insecurity I can skip."

"Yup, totally-" Gwen's eyes flashed and she pinned him with her cheekiest smile. _Gotcha._

* * *

"Yup, totally-" Ben cut himself off, his blood freezing in his veins as his eyes snapped open and his brain stuttered to a halt. He slowly turned to look at Gwen, all colour draining from his face. He found her looking down at him, her finger tapping her chin in thought, a coy smirk on her face. A coy _victorious _smirk.

Time to backtrack faster than XLR8. "I mean- I mean, for a dweeb!" He stuttered, waving his arms with a blush.

Gwen's smirk turned even more mischievous. "Oh, so now I'm a 'hot dweeb'?"

"No, no, no, you _will_ be! Not now!" It took his brain all of half a second to catch up to what he actually said and he groaned. That's it, he had found rock bottom and slapped two hands over his traitorous mouth to stop it from giving the dweeb any more ammunition. And if the ground could open up and swallow him right about now, that would be _great._

Gwen, clearly feeling_ very_ confident, rolled on top of him to smirk right down into his face. A smirk that promised that he was_ in for it._

"What was that?" She sing-songed with a catlike grin. "Does the doofus have a thing for curvy redheads?" She waggled her eyebrows and absolutely _loved _his discomfort as he blushed and groaned behind his hands. _That's what I get for inflating her ego._ She laughed and he felt his competitive streak rear its head. _Two can play that game._

He brought up his own hand to grab the hair on the back of her head and leaned up, loving how the uncertainty crept into her eyes as the discomfort set in. She probably hadn't really thought about their position, but he was going to be darn sure that she knew _all_ about it now. Judging by the red creeping up her face, he was succeeding. He pulled out his best smirk, knowing that he was still blushing himself but ignoring it.

"Nah, just redheads. Now get _off._" He answered her earlier question, giving her hair a yank to get her off him.

She gasped softly and his brain ground to a halt the same way a well oiled machine grinds to a halt (and slumps in on itself) when it's power is cut off.

He stared at her, eyes wide as saucers, as his cousin did the exact same. He could see the flush creep up from her under her shirt till it covered all exposed skin, growing deeper by the second. Judging by the heat he felt, he wasn't doing much better. _We maaay have gotten a little too comfortable there._

A long second passed before, in a blur of movement, he found himself flat on his back, staring at the sky with the wind knocked out of him. Gwen was getting better with her throws; she'd managed to get up, haul him up with her, and throw him, all in under a second. Her red, upside down head appeared in his field of vision, not quite meeting his eyes.

"You didn't hear that." She told him.

"What, that battle cry was only in my head?"

"Yes, that's what it was. I don't like people touching my hair. Plus, that spot is ticklish. You had it coming."

He'd buried his face in her hair just this morning and heard her giggle softly because of it _but_ he figured now was not the time to point that out. Instead he nodded rapidly. "Ticklish. Of course. Totally."

"Also, this conversation never happened." She told him, jabbing a finger at his face.

"Nope, we took a stroll in silence. No talking here." He whistled as innocently as he could.

"We didn't even take a stroll. This is all a dream." She asserted.

"Can't sell that. Grandpa saw us going into the forest."

"We can convince him that he's senile."

"You are a cruel, cruel dweeb."

"Oh please," She flicked her short hair and smirked, emerald eyes sparkling. The blush was still there though, if a little less intense. "You wouldn't have me any other way." With that she turned around and marched back into the forest in the direction of the RV.

Ben sat up and smiled to himself, watching her go through the trees without a trace of fear, feeling an odd mixture of annoyance, fondness and pride.

Then again, there really wasn't anything odd about it at all. That was just Gwen in a nutshell.

* * *

This is as of now a muti-chapter story. I wasn't sure if I was gonna move it past a oneshot, but I got so many nice reviews, favs and follows that I couldn't just leave it as is. And I gotta admit its a real kick to get reviews from people whose stories inspired me to write this in the first place; you guys rock! Hope you all enjoyed, if you have questions, suggestions, remarks, feel free to review of pm. I usually respond within a few hours.


	3. Chapter 3: Distant

Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10.

**Warning: chapter includes some minor self-harm.**

* * *

Max had been a soldier for most of his life, both in the military and for the Plumbers. As a young man growing up in the Cold War era, he'd never imagined that there could be anything more frightening than a nuclear bomb. They were just so powerful, being capable of leveling entire cities, that his young mind could not conceive of any force beyond it. It was terrifying, but it also gave him a sense of safety. No matter how bad the aliens got, they had the bigger stick.

That was until he had to use one on an Vilgax; and it didn't even kill it.

Since that time, he'd learned that Vilgax, while highly dangerous, was far from the worst. He and his comrades had fought against the horrors of deep space, from the most benign but out of place Nosedeenian on one end to galactic warlords on the other. But there was no fighting the eldritch abominations the size of entire star systems that drifted between galaxies. You just kept you head down and prayed they never found you.

Max had seen plenty of his squad-mates (and later his subordinates) struggle with both the knowledge of their insignificance in the universe as well as the tangible dangers Plumber work put them in. He'd seen men break in their first week or after twenty years. It did not matter; in due time, the nightmares would come for all of them. Rose had been his light through that darkness, but not everyone was so lucky.

Which was why it broke his heart to see the gaze of veteran soldiers stare back at him through the eyes of his grandchildren.

They hadn't told him what happened on their mission to stop the omnitrix from exploding, but Max knew the signs of someone recovering from a brush with the reaper, as well as he knew the signs of survivors guilt. Gwen struggled with one, Ben with the other. And that was probably just the tip of the iceberg.

The kids were stronger than he could ever have imagined, though. They'd found strength in their bond, now stronger than ever, and he could not be happier for them. And he'd be lying if he said that waking up to find the two of them a mess of tangled limbs in one of their bunks wasn't heartwarming in and of itself.

Their parents were going to love the pictures he'd snapped of that.

For his part, Max knew how to deal with traumatized people. Make sure they have a social safety net (the kids fulfilled that role for each-other better than he ever could). Don't rush them, let them set the pace. Make sure their environment was consistent and that it was normal. And be there in the event that they wanted to talk.

All of these things he could provide in spades, and while they did not heal, they at least learned to smile again in the weeks since they returned. He provided the stability, they provided each other with support. It was working, slowly, but it was. It was good.

But summer was ending.

* * *

The RV parked itself on the sidewalk of a familiar house. Sitting in the passenger's seat, Gwen closed her eyes and took a fortifying breath. _It's time. _And if she just kept repeating that to herself, she might actually learn to accept it.

"We're here sweety." Grandpa said, eyes distant. He wasn't keen on this either. "I'll go greet Ben's parents, can you wake him up for me?" Gwen smiled gratefully at her grandfather. An opportunity to say goodbye in privacy. Sometimes, grandpa Max was just the best.

"Yeah," she started, throat dry as a desert. "I'll go do that." Unclasping her seat belt, she began to move the RV while she heard grandpa move out the door behind her, only to quickly spin around and embrace the man. She could feel his deep laugh vibrate all through her as she laid on his chest. They hadn't had a good hug in a few weeks, and Gwen could not for the life of her remember why that was.

"Thanks grandpa." For the trip. For taking care of them. For loving them.

Grandpa went to one knee so they were of a height with each-other and embraced her back, her head tucked under his chin. "It was my pleasure sweety. I'll see you soon." He broke the embrace so he could look her in the eye. "And I love you, never forget that." Gwen blinked back tears, not really understanding why his words made her feel so emotional. He'd said them often.

Maybe she'd just needed to hear.

Grandpa rose, knees popping, and he grinned down at her. She could see where Ben got it in that moment. "Now go grab your cousin." With that he turned to walk out the RV door, but not before tossing a final bit of advice over his shoulder. "And don't forget to tell him that you care."

Gwen nodded and she stood still in the middle of the Rustbucket for a moment after Max had left. Colored orange and red by the light of the slowly setting sun, the place still felt like home, more so than the memory of her own room did. She missed it already.

Moving past the kitchen, lounge area and the cots, she found something she'd miss even more: Ben sleeping at the back of the RV, the same evening light spilling over his small frame. Like the RV, she took a moment to take him in. He was still wearing his lucky clothes, though at her insistence he'd started washing them more often at least. And shower more than twice a week. For all that he looked peaceful lying there, his brows were furrowed and he was twitching with discomfort. She walked over and settled herself next to his head and ran a hand through his hair.

"No, please- it should've been me, it should've been me-"

Gwen closed her eyes, her heart going out to him. She knew this nightmare all too well. She leaned down and placed her forehead against his, lingering till she felt him calm. When she pulled back, foggy green eyes met her own.

The look in them told her that he needed no explanation, but she provided one anyway to fill the silence. "Time to get up. You're home." She told him. Ben closed his eyes again, his face scrunching, and shook his head.

"No, I'm not." He whispered but got up all the same. She watched him stretch and stand, her heart racing as the prospect of him leaving came closer. She reached out for him but he stepped away, towards a small storage compartment that grandpa Max had hidden all over the RV and pulled out a device.

Coming back over, he held the burner phone out to her, silently. She took it, but raised an eyebrow in question.

"I upgraded it in the last few days." Ben explained. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an identical phone, flipping it open to reveal a contact list of two: 'Grandpa Max' and 'Dweeb extraordinaire.' She snorted and opened her own phone to find that her contact list referred to him 'The magnificent Ben 10'. She snorted harder.

"I didn't know you even knew the word 'magnificent'." she teased. Ben grinned in response, cheeky as the day summer began. It didn't quite reach his eyes.

"There's no call costs or anything. You tap either of us, you get connected. Gramps has one too, obviously."

Gwen nodded in understanding. _An emergency phone. _"That'll come in handy next time its ever Hero time." She remarked. He nodded and put his phone away, picking up his bag and moving towards the door. She followed after pocketing her own device. Once at the door though, right before rounding the corner, he halted and turned back to her.

She came to a stop right before him, close enough to see the veins in the whites of his eyes, and saw the same question on his face that she'd been asking herself for weeks. _How are we going to do this without the other? _Were they just going to back to never seeing each-other again? Or only seeing each other once in a while for family gatherings or Hero time? _Could_ they even, considering the way they were now?

Ben took a deep breath and hoisted his bag higher on his shoulder. His mouth moved silently for a few seconds before he averted his eyes again, his movements tense. "I better… go. Call me-" he said, gesturing vaguely to the pocket that carried her new phone.

"I know." She picked up for him, averting her eyes to the floor as well. "I'll call you if an alien shows up, we'll kick its butt."

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to meet his gaze again; this time there was determination, that stubborn conviction that always made her feel safe. Funny, how within the span of a minute they could go from her comforting to him, to him steadying her.

"Call me," he repeated, giving her shoulder a light shake for emphasis. "When you need me." The silence that followed was no silence at all, not to her. She heard everything that he couldn't bring himself to say.

Call me, if you're in trouble.

Call me, if you can't sleep.

Call me, if you need to talk.

Call me, if you stub your toe and need to swear for a bit.

Call me. It doesn't matter why.

Of course he didn't say any of that. Why would he, if she heard him all the same?

* * *

Ben lasted three hours before the fear found him, and the guilt.

His parents were asking about his trip and he was regaling tales of his many adventures in things like shopping malls and tourist traps, as well as the hazards of being on the road in general.

"And then grandpa Max rounded the bend and BAM! There was a herd of sheep in the middle of the road!" Ben exclaimed enthusiastically, to the amusement of his parents.

"So, what happened next? Lambs meat for dinner?" Sandra asked, to which her husband rolled his eyes.

"Wouldn't put it past my dad." He muttered.

Ben snickered. "Nah, he hit the brakes so hard the Gwen fell off the couch in the back of the Rustbucket and rolled all the way to the kitchen. It was hilarious!"

Their parents sighed and facepalmed at the boy's perception of 'humor', but they grinned fondly, if a little long-suffering. "At least no one got seriously hurt, right?" Sandra asked behind hand.

"No mom we were all-" Ben cut himself off, eyes going wide and all the joy leaking from his face. "...fine." He finished, eyes going down to the dinner table, where his arms lay folded before him. He eyed the dial of the omnitrix, and for a split second he thought he saw orange and red light in the green display. His mind snapped back to the pain of its periodic pulses and the sound of roots scraping over each-other.

His ears rang, his heart sped up and he was overwhelmed by the feeling that he needed to get the accursed thing off as quickly as possible. _There's gotta be a lock or something, or its stretches, something, anything!_

Distantly he heard someone shout his name, but he only realized that both his parents had been calling out to him when they had both gotten up and grabbed him, his father by the shoulders and his mother keeping his hands apart.

"Ben! Stop hurting yourself!" Sandra yelled, tears streaming down her face.

_Hurt-? I didn't- _Looking down at the omnitrix again he saw that his wrist around it was a mess of scratches, some of them leaking blood. But the omnitrix was still in its place.

Ben leaped up from his chair, knocking both his parents away in the sudden movement, his char falling to the floor with a loud bang. Panting, bloody fingers reached for his face and found it wet before his fingers got there. Looking at his parents, seeing the confusion and fear for him in every inch of their posture and expression, Ben knew he had to get away now.

"I'll- I'll go and clean it up." He explained before racing out of the room and up the stairs before his parents could stop him, breath coming in fast pants and his heart beating faster than XLR8 could run. He all but stumbled across the hallway, going straight past the bathroom where he should've grabbed the first-aid kit, as he pushed open his bedroom door and slammed it behind him. Spotting his new phone lying on his desk, he pounced on it and flipped it open, selecting Gwen's number as soon as it popped up.

She answered on the second ring. "Are you alright Ben?" She asked, sounding about as miserable as he felt. Falling back on the bed (too large, was his bed always this huge? He felt like he was going to drown in it), he took steadying breaths. _She's fine, I'm fine. _His silence unnerved Gwen though, as her voice filled with fear. "Ben?"

"Why does there have to be anything wrong for me to want to talk to my favorite cousin?" He asked teasingly, voice still watery. The answering snort she gave him was so easy to imagine that he could all but see her roll her eyes.

"I'm your _only_ cousin, doofus." She informed him, curtly, but there was a gentleness in her voice that told him she knew exactly how frail he was right now.

He swallowed, mouth dry. "What about Lucy?"

"She's twice removed. Doesn't count."

That brought a genuine smile to his face. Gwen being sassy was familiar, and comfortable, territory. "Ouch. Someone's jealous she didn't get to be the flower girl."

"Was there anything you wanted, Ben?" She snapped, but there was no heat in it.

He was silent for a moment, staring up at his ceiling. Somehow it had become as strange to him as the occasional hotel they'd sleep in if grandpa wanted to spoil them a little on the road. He wondered if Gwen felt the same about her own room.

"...how're you doing dweeb?" He asked. And wasn't that a loaded question if ever he asked one. They'd gotten so used to conveying their feelings with touches and looks, it felt strange to actually verbalize it. It made it feel too real.

Gwen seemed to be thinking the same thing, as he could hear her swallow on the other end of the line. She did answer though. "I'm… okay. My mom's keeping me busy, pestering me to plan for all the clubs and events she wants me to pick up again." At the start of the summer she'd loved all those things. She sounded like she'd rather eat a shoe right now. He could sympathize with that.

"Tiger mom is at it again." He asserted, wincing. The sigh he got for it was tired, but not angry.

"It's better than doing nothing." She grumbled. Ben didn't respond. After a long moment of silence, Gwen spoke up.

"I have to go Ben. My mom's giving me suspicious looks, and I can't give her a reason to take the phone." She drew in a deep breath. When she spoke up next, her voice was clearer. "We'll see each-other Friday when grandpa comes over to show of all the pictures. You'll be fine till then?"

Ben swallowed hard, throat suddenly dry. He glanced at his still bleeding wrist. He wanted to tell her that he wouldn't be fine, that he needed her with him. That he wasn't going to be able to sleep without her there. That he'd rather duke it out with Vilgax as just Ben than having to wait four days to see her again. That he missed her.

Instead he said "Of course! I'm a hero remember? I can manage anything."

Gwen didn't snicker, or scoff, or shoot him down. Instead she replied with a smile in her voice. "I know you are."

Ben was glad she couldn't see his face turn red across the phone. "Uhm, goodnight, Gwen."

"Night Ben. And..." She hesitated for a second, but soldiered on anyway. "You know that I care about you, right?"

Ben's spirit lifted and his resolve hardened. "I guess you're tolerable, for a total nerd queen."

Gwen's frustrated groan was music to his ears. "Forget I said anything. Sleep tight you ingrate-"

"I care about you too. And-" He swallowed. In for a penny… "I miss you."

Gwen's silent was not an awkward one this time. Instead, it felt like the silences they'd share after a hard day on the road, the sort in which they didn't need words, only touch. Lacking that, he'd settle for the sound of her breathing on the end of the line. He didn't know what that said about him, that just that soft sound was enough to calm his nerves.

"Hey, doofus," she started in a whisper. He leaned in to hear her better. "I'm going to prepare for bed, but when I'm in there do you want, I don't know, call again? We- we don't have to _talk_, just..."

"...yeah, sounds good. Half an hour?"

"Half an hour." She affirmed and the line went dead.

Staring at the phone for a long second, his gaze shifted to his bloodied left arm. He sighed and walked over to his bedroom door, opening it. His mother stood before it, first-aid kit in hand. She looked unsure of what to do.

"We heard you talking and figured you'd want privacy..." Sandra started, eyes worried.

Ben smiled a watery smile and raised his wrist. "Can you… can you help me bandage this?" He hadn't felt this much of a kid in months. It was nice in his own way.

His mother wasted no time disinfecting the wound, bandaging it and giving him hugs and kisses whenever she saw a chance to. He squirmed and protested but relished the love none-the-less. His father hovered in the background, smiling encouragingly, but with a gaze that told him that this was not over. But they'd wait for him, Ben knew. His mother wasn't a control freak like Gwen's, and sometimes his father had so much of grandpa in him that he honestly forgot who he was talking too.

They'd give him time.

When his wounds were cleaned, he prepared for bed, bid his parents goodnight and went to bed. She spent the remainder of the evening with his phone beside his pillow, whispering with Gwen about everything and nothing until he drifted off to the sound of her breathing getting heavier.

It wasn't a permanent solution, but it was enough for now.

* * *

Hi all! Hope you'll forgive the longer chapter and the lack of fluff and the, well, darker tones in this. It kind of got away from me. Comments, suggestions, complaints, I'd love the hear all of them. :)


	4. Chapter 4: Tenderness

Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10. I don't even own the mug anymore. It broke.

A/N: this chapter deals with an outsider's perspective to Ben and Gwen's situation, as I found it easier to broadcast the impact of trauma on a family that way. That, and Max's perspective is a blast. It's a bit of a long one, couldn't find a good way to cut it up.

* * *

Max smiled to himself as he heard Gwen talk to her father as he drove the RV through the baking streets of Bellwood, the afternoon sun coming down hard on them. She was giving him the grand tour of the Rustbucket and all its wonders ("Yuck, Grandpa! Would it kill you to at least put the worms _down_ before you put them in the fridge?") and regaling to him some of the nicer moments they'd shared there.

"So I roll right off of the couch, all the way to the kitchen! And Ben? Oh that little creep was just _loving _it-" Max's smile turned into a grin. He remembered that one. Small miracle she hadn't called down a firestorm on her cousin, or on the sheep.

They were on their way to Ben's house where Max would show of all of the holiday pictures to their parents in one go, give them the child-friendly version of their months on the road. At Gwen's suggestion, he'd picked them up in the RV for the trip so she could show them. However, with Gwen occupying her father, it left Max in the unenviable position of entertaining Natalie.

Now, let it never be said that he disliked his daughter-in-law. On the contrary, he found her an admirable woman of great intelligence. If they'd had her in the Plumbers, Vilgax would be dead and buried several times over. But as it was, Gwen's mother had a controlling disposition and had never been overly fond of the devil-may-care attitude that she thought was prevalent in her husband's side of the family. Ben was outright terrified of her, and perhaps most relevant to the here and now-

"Max," she started from the passenger's seat, opening the conversation on a casual note. "how is it that I barely recognize my daughter anymore?"

-selling her bullshit was nearly impossible. But he couldn't quite brush her off; his grandchildren needed him to get this right. Max put on his best roguish grin. "Well she did become a _little _taller I think, though that may have been me tripping on the crab meat, you know how these road-trips go-"

Ah, so that's where Gwen got her icy glares. But if Gwen's fierceness was hereditary, so was Ben's immunity to it; and he'd gotten that from_ his_ side of the family.

Natalie was silent for a moment before she, surprisingly, sighed sadly. "This is serious Max. Did something… happen?" She asked, glancing back her daughter. _And now the hard part starts._

"Well, her cousin happened. Jury's still out on whether or not she needs therapy for that one." Natalie's glare returned tenfold and he shrugged."I don't know what to tell you Nat. We've been on the road for months together, might just be new habits that are shocking you. Or being home again is shocking her." He offered her his warmest smile. "You're the former psychologist here, list out the symptoms and tell me what you think."

She was silent again, considering him, before she began listing of her concerns. "She doesn't sleep." Natalie stated, staring thoughtfully out of the window. "At least, barely. She's moody, snaps at us every other instance, talks back to us," Max opened his mouth to suggest that she was just being child, perhaps an early onset of puberty; Gwen was always ahead of her age group like that, but she shot him down before he managed a sound.

"It's not just her being a brat, Max. She's… different. She's dropped next to all of the activity clubs she was in, she can't focus on anything. I'd call it depression if she didn't spend half the time talking on her phone, reaching out and being happy when she does. Or seeming happy, at least. But then I hear her crying in her room every night and then she just up and disappeared on us for hours yesterday. Impulsive behavior is a new one."

"I told you Nat, she just went to visit her old gramps. I called you to tell her she was fine-" _Well, so long as you consider cleaning up a small instance of alien activity 'fine.'_

"That's not the issue!" Natalie broke through loudly. Gwen and Frank looked up, shocked at the redhead's loss of composure. Frank, probably knowing full well what his wife was putting his poor father through, asked Gwen to show him the back and led her away. Gwen went along with him, but he knew there'd be questions later. When they were further out of earshot, Natalie continued, quietly.

"The issue is that she isn't usually this contrary, or angry, or sad. And those are just the most obvious aspects." Her eyes became distant again. "We were having lunch in the backyard when Gwen suddenly shot out of her chair, ruining a perfectly fine tablecloth with orange juice mind you, told us she wasn't hungry and ran to her room." She bit her lip, obviously distressed. "I haven't ever seen her that afraid, and I can't for the life of me figure out why. Next thing I know, she's running out the house to meet you."

Max had a fairly good idea of why Gwen had run from the garden, or who she'd been spending time on the phone with. But it wasn't his place to tell, the kids needed to do that on their own; him forcing the issue now would hurt them in the long run. Personally, he'd been delighted when they'd knocked on his door yesterday, ready to go out and kick butt, with Ben proudly displaying the tracking function of the phones. They'd looked tired, but happy.

"_I wanted to test this out but, well, I..."_

"_The doofus installed a tracking device that gives results in coordinates, only to remember that he can't read them. World's greatest hero, everyone!" _

"I should've grounded her for that stunt." Natalie's pained and annoyed voice snapped Max out of his reminiscences. _Gotta stay focused here. __The kids might have been fine around me, but clearly they weren't. Far from it._

"Why didn't you then?" He asked carefully.

"...she's scared, Max. All the time." The woman swallowed, and Max silently offered her his bottle of water, which she gratefully accepted. "You should've seen her anytime she goes outside. Its like she's walking into a battlefield. She doesn't sleep." The woman repeated, miserably. "And when she does there's the..."

"...Nightmares." Max finished for her. Natalie turned to him, eyes no longer distant or angry, but so sad and imploring that it broke his heart. Natalie had always been the smart one, and one heck of psychologist to boot before she laid down the job to take care of Gwen. She probably knew exactly what it was that Gwen was suffering from. He turned away under the pretext of focusing on the (nearly empty) road, but it really gave him time to reflect and choose his words. When they'd been on the road, he'd seen all of this, but it was so diminished that he'd hoped that even the shock of returning home would not break their strides. However, phone calls from Sandra and now the revelations provided by Natalie showed him how wrong he had been. His grandchildren were suffering, badly._ Which makes what I must do even more important. _

"She's been like this for a few weeks. I don't know what caused it!" He raised a hand to forestall the question forming on her lips. "And it wasn't nearly this bad while we were still traveling, so I didn't think much of it. I figured that perhaps she was sad that our trip was ending, or that she had a downer spell. But it seems..." He sighed and looked at her from the corner of his eye, considering.

"Natalie?" It took a moment for her to look up from worrying her lip between her teeth, but when she did he had her undivided attention. _So much like Gwen. _"I can't give you parenting advice. Frankly, I'm only a slightly better grandfather than I was a parent." He swallowed, the words tasting bitter on his tongue, even if he knew them to be true; especially now. "I wasn't there for my children growing up, and clearly I failed to be there for Gwen when she needed me." It was always easier to talk to Natalie when he didn't have to lie to her. "But, if you'll permit an old man his rant, I'm no stranger to people… suffering from their own mind. I can give you some advice, if only as a guideline. You have the skill-set to determine whether or not it's a good idea."

Gwen's mother obviously looked torn on the issue, knowing full well that he spoke the truth when he said he had failed Gwen but also knowing that he _could_ help, as the person that probably knew her daughter best. It took a lot of faith for a mother to trust the man who failed her daughter, and Max's admiration for her increased when she gave it to him again for Gwen's sake.

"What would you suggest?" She asked, wearily. _A brave woman, indeed. Gwen's lucky._

"Do nothing." He deadpanned.

The fury returned quickly. "I told you this is not a joke you senile-!"

"I'm not joking." Max cut her off in his best army commander voice. "I know this is hard for you Nat, trust me, it was hard for me too, but Gwen's stuck in her own head right now, and she's only going to come out if she feels safe. So that's what we gotta make her feel, no more, no less."

As they pulled up at Ben's house, he turned to her fully. "The best thing you can do for her is keep things normal, and to be there when she needs to talk. And-" And her he pointed at her to make his point. "And, you need to accept that maybe, she will not talk to you. This is not in your hands, but in hers."

Natalie obviously struggled with that, glaring balefully at him, before the anger drained out of her with a tired sigh. "The mother in me hates you right now, but the professional knows that you're essentially prescribing they exact treatment I would prescribe in this situation. But we need to do _something_, Max."

Max grinned at her, grabbing the photo album he had compiled. "And we will, in time. Come, we have a beautiful afternoon to enjoy Gwen's good mood. Let's not waste it in the car." As if on cue Gwen's laugh echoed through the RV.

Natalie snorted delicately but she smiled sardonically through it. "That'll last right up until she has to deal with Ben again. Nothing but complaints about that boy."

Max smirked. They were in for surprise.

* * *

Gwen stepped out of the RV, straightening her yellow summer dress and tugging on her matching sun hat, rolling her eyes to herself. _Let my mom dress me once to cheer her up and of course she goes for the girliest thing I've got. _

Not that it was all bad; it was a very warm day and this was definitely comfortable. She snickered to herself. _Bet the doofus is sticky mess. _Shaking off the instinct to go back into the RV, her eyes followed grandpa Max.

Grandpa walked up to the front door, which opened before he could knock. Ben shot out at him with a delighted cry, jumping up to wrap his arms around Max's neck, nearly knocking him over. Grandpa's laugh rang through the air while Ben's parents stood in the doorway, shaking their head but smiling at his antics none-the-less. She understood the feeling. They looked tired though; bags under both her uncle's and her aunt's eyes speakng of sleepless nights. That was worrying. When it looked like Ben wasn't going to let go of grandpa Max anytime soon, she decided to step up. She'd worry about her other relatives later.

"Hey doofus! Manners!" She called out, bringing attention to the rest of them.

It was interesting, how the second their eyes met the tension amongst the adults skyrocketed whilst she felt herself relax for the first time that day; how her instinct turned around from getting back into the RV to getting over to her cousin. When Ben jumped down and walked over to her, it occurred to her that they'd never talked about how they would act in front of their parents, who still expected them to hate each-other by all acounts. Hers certainly did. Before she could think on the matter more, Ben was before her. Wearing shorts and flip-flops of all things. Ugh.

"What is it dweeb? You jealous?" He asked unkindly. At least, that's how he sounded to the rest of them, she supposed. She saw the twinkle in his eyes and heard the hidden laugh in his voice.

She scoffed and crossed her arms, glaring. "Of grandpa getting a hug from _you_? No thank you, I'm good."

"Great, no way was I ever touching you anyway. I can already feel the dweeb cooties crawling over me." Ben visibly shuddered and it took all Gwen's willpower not to burst out laughing. Never touch her? If his tapping foot was anything to go by, he was struggling not to glomp her.

"Glad to hear it." She retorted.

"Glad that you're glad."

"Never been happier."

"Great."

"Perfect."

With every word they'd leaned closer and glared harder and all around them the adults were shifting nervously, not sure whether to intercede in their 'fight' or not. Ultimately, grandpa gave the game away when he burst out laughing.

Ben grinned sunnily at her. "I got the new Sumo Slammer comic! Wanna see it?"

She shrugged. "Sure, lead the way." Ben did just that, grabbing her by the wrist and leading her inside to go up to his room. She felt her heart rate speed up at the touch, but it was not at all the unpleasant, suffocating feeling she'd grown to expect, but a happy little feeling, like a bird taking flight. "Since when do you wear shorts?" She asked as she passed Carl and Sandra, smiling at them in greeting. They seemed flabbergasted.

"Since the mercury went this freaking high. Since when do you wear dresses?" He asked as he pulled her up the stairs.

Behind her there was stunned silence. And grandpa laughing his butt off of course.

* * *

"Okay," Sandra started as all the adults sat down around the table set up in the backyard, enjoying the coolness provided by the sunshade and the light breeze. That, and the drinks Carl had carried from the kitchen. "what did you do and how did you do it?"

Carl eyed his father curiously as he sat down. He'd been wondering the exact same thing.

Max smiled mysteriously, eyes twinkling. "My, whatever do you mean my dear Sandra?"

"You know what she means." Frank interjected, grinning. "They got along. They haven't done that in years. And seeing as we all agreed not to talk about the... other thing, it's as good a topic as any. Spill the beans, old man." Carl nodded along with his brother's statement. Part of him wanted to throw caution to the wind and drag his grandfather across the table to demand what _the hell _the watch on Ben's arm was and why there wasn't a damn lock on it to get it off-

But he'd already asked that over the phone, several times, and once in person, this week alone. His father didn't know; or at least he wasn't telling. After a lifetime of half-truths from the man, Carl honestly wasn't sure which anymore. Burying his missgivings, he decided to focus on the here and now. They all eyed the album that Max had brought.

They way Max's eyes lit up when they did told Carl that they'd walked into a trap.

"Well, alright. Let me tell you the tale of two insufferable brats on a road-trip with their wise grandfather!" Ignoring the answering groans, he flipped open the book.

"It started about as well as you'd expect."

Max took them through all the places they'd seen, flipping page after page of pictures of them across the country, and of course images of the travelers. It was in those that a clear progression soon became visible.

In the first few weeks of the trip, it was clear that the kids were not enjoying each other very much. Any picture of them together was forced and the casual shots usually didn't have them interacting at all… save the few where they were clearly fighting or laughing at the other's expense.

This changed over time though. More and more pictures came along of Ben and Gwen acting goofy, laughing, or being nice in general. The pictures of Joel and Camille's wedding were great too; seeing Ben dance with little Lucy gave him a kick. When Natalie asked where he'd even learned to dance, Max merely turned the page to show Ben dancing again, this time with Gwen, her head tossed back, laughing at some joke he had made. The implication was obvious.

"Ah, now this one has a bit of a story." Max began, as if though he hadn't been dramatically narrating throughout the page flipping. "We were in the forests up north and the radio decided to call it quit, as well as the signal on Gwen's laptop, so all of a sudden we were without music." Mock gasps of horror resounded around the table. Sandra even managed a fake tear for her 'poor little Ben.' Carl smiled to himself. Paper-thin it may be, seeing his wife have fun for the first time in a week made him happy.

"Fret not!" Max continued emphatically. "For rescue came swiftly: rescue being Ben kicking the bathroom door open and belting out 'You ain't nothin but a hound dog'." Max revealed a picture of Ben singing into an imaginary microphone, hair gelled up in a pompadour, Gwen crying with laughter on the edge of the picture. The adults snickered, even Natalie.

"Told ya, the kid's got a gift." Sandra teased the other woman. Natalie scoffed, but there was no heat in it.

"A gift for buffoonery, for sure." She remarked haughtily.

Before they could really get going, his father intervened, again with that devilish twinkle in his eyes. "Oh, Ben's not the only one."

Natalie looked at his father in horror. "She didn't!" The mother protested.

Max flipped the page to reveal a larger picture of Gwen up on the RV's table, rocking an air guitar with her hair up in a lush red mo-hawk, sticking her tongue out at the camera. Ben was kneeling on the couch beside her, still singing into his imaginary microphone, striking a flamboyant pose as well.

Natalie fell back into her seat with a facepalm while the rest laughed. "The brat's turned my daughter into a hooligan." She griped, to Carl's amusement. Max protested avidly.

"On the contrary, it was the best rendition of 'living on a prayer' I've ever heard, even if Ben did change the lyrics to 'Lincoln on a bear'. Kid's got talent."

The next few pictures were of Gwen and Ben goofing around with the gel, and one of all three with their hair in the oddest styles they could think of. Ben in particular seemed to enjoy playing with Gwen's hair.

Carl snorted. "If we're not careful, kid's going to have a thing for redheads." His brother laughed.

"Don't even joke about it man, they'll drive him crazy." At Natalie's glare he hastily added "In the best of ways!"

Sandra mimed a whipping motion to Carl and he suppressed a snicker. _Guess I won't have to ask who's wearing the pants in that relationship._

"So that's it?" Sandra asked, happy. "They're _finally _getting along?"

"Eh, most of the time. It really depends on-"

"BENJAMIN KIRBY TENNYSON!"

"-the day."

The only warning they got was footsteps on the stairs before Ben shot past them in a blur, Gwen hot on his heels, a bright red smiley drawn on her right cheek in a clumsy fashion. Into the garden they went, running around for a few seconds before Gwen tackled him down with a flying kick and put him in a choke-hold with her legs.

"I'm going to shove the permanent markers so deep up your butt that you're going to need a colonoscopy _and _a visit to the dentist when they come out on the other end, doofus!" She yelled.

"Joke's on you!" Ben wheezed, struggling to dislodge his head from her lock. "I gotta visit the- _pant –_ dentist anyway!"

"Is that to fix your – _hrngh -_ Cavity?"

"That's… the… one." Gwen was turning slightly purple from the strain, but he did manage to loose her hold enough to breathe again.

"Call me to tell me how it went!" Gwen remarked before clamping down again, to Ben's pained dismay.

The adults beheld all this with varying degrees of bemusement, not sure to be worried or not. Carl was the first to vocalize their shared experience.

"Dad?"

Max grunted in acknowledgment, stifling another bout of laughter.

"I'm more confused than a homeless person under house arrest." The younger man remarked before standing up and calling over to the (play?) fighting children. "Need help there, little man?"

"No worries pa! I'm wearing her down!" Ben proclaimed with a thumbs up, the movement clumsy due to his predicament and the fact that that cursed (bandaged) watch weighed down his arm. Said arm was grabbed by Gwen in response to his confidence.

"Oh, then you won't mind me upping the pressure, right?" She asked sweetly before she turned the headlock into an arm-wrench.

"Don't you dare- OW! You mother-"

"Language!" She chided, glaring daggers.

"...puncher?" Ben finished weakly, a sheepish grin on his face.

"Oy!" Sandra spoke up. "I take issue with that train of thought young man!"

The fight went on for one long second more before the tension drained out of the children and Gwen loosened her hold. Rather than jump apart they lay there, catching their breath.

"Well," Frank remarked into the ensuing silence, pushing his glasses up his nose as Carl returned to his seat. "It's hardly perfect, but if this is as good as it gets, I'll take it."

Max smiled that blasted mysterious smile again. "It gets better." With that he flipped to the last few pages of the book and just held them out, letting the pictures speak for themselves.

They were much the same in terms of subject. Places, people, and Ben and Gwen just hanging out, with Max occasionally featuring. But the differences were obvious. Whereas earlier pictures of them had depicted them as distant, and the later ones as friendly, these spoke of actual closeness. Whether it was a picture of them at the mall, at a famous landmark or just relaxing in the Rustbucket, they seemed to always be touching. But he also noticed that that tiredness that he'd seen in Ben the last few days had appeared, where before he had seemed right as rain. Frank and Natalie seemed similarly entranced, as Frank pulled the book over and flipped the page.

Max had obviously saved the best for last. These pages had just two pictures between them. The first was Gwen reading on the RV's backbench. Or she would have been, had she not put her book aside to to smile down at the little boy who had decided to use her lap to rest his head. Ben's eyes were tired, nearly shut, seeming to drift off as Gwen stroked a hand through his hair.

The second picture was, if possible, even worse. At a glance, it just looked like Gwen sleeping in her bunk. Adorable in and of itself, he was about to tell his brother when the other shoe dropped; that shoe being Ben, bundled so tightly in there with her that he was nigh indistinguishable from Gwen. His face was buried in her collar area, with Gwen resting her face in his shaggy hair. The shapes beneath the covers suggested quite clearly that they were tangled quite snuggly.

"These are my favorites." Max remarked into the silence. Carl could see why. Sweet as the pictures were in general, what really got to him was their faces. Gwen's face was lit by a warm smile in the first picture. Not a sardonic one, not a cheeky one, but a genuine warm on the likes of which Carl could not recall having seen on her face in years. Ben's tired gaze was similar, radiating a comfort and trust that he'd never had, not even with his parents. The trust and closeness that the second picture conveyed spoke for itself.

Carl turned first to the other adults at the table, and then as one they glanced back to the kids. They were still lounging in the grass, Ben's head resting on Gwen's upper leg while her other leg remained draped over his chest and Ben's left arm drawn out over the girl's abdomen to where his hand rested on her chest. She was playing with the bandages on Ben's wrist absently. With the pictures in the back of his mind, Carl's eyes now snapped to all the places where they were tangled up and the way they relaxed; Ben hadn't looked this peaceful since he came back-

No, that was wrong too. He hadn't looked this peaceful ever. Beside him, he heard Frank mutter "'Dweeb cooties' my ass, cheeky little brat."

The moment was broken when Gwen untangled one of the bandages and traced her fingers over the scabs of the scratches. She shot up and fixed Ben with a horrified glare. Ben himself sat up slower and looked to the grass guiltily as she unwrapped all the rest of the bandages. Carl closed his eyes, already knowing that her actions revealed an inordinate amount of scratches, some from his first day home, others from yesterday when he'd relapsed. He heard Natalie's sharp in-take of breath. He opened his eyes to see his sister-in-law glare venomously at his father, who seemed... shocked. They'd told him about Ben's episodes (well, yelled at him), but clearly seeing the boy's hurts for real drove the point home. Gwen's reaction was strangely subdued.

No words were exchanged between the children. No questions asked. All she did was lean in to place her forehead against his, both of their eyes closed. Something passed between them, Carl could tell, but the moment was gone as soon as it began, and Gwen stood, holding out her hand to Ben. He took it, and she led him over to the house.

"We're going to change the bandages." She informed the adults curtly before disappearing into the darkness of their home.

They were barely out of earshot before Sandra turned to Natalie with a question. "Can Gwen sleep over?" _Yes please. _He thought. _Anything to make Ben stop doing… whatever it is he's doing._ It didn't bear thinking off, and attempts to open Ben up had proven completely fruitless. But Gwen seemed to help him. Now they just had to get the suggestion past Natalie...

The redhead in question was silent for a moment, lost in thought, glancing at the pictures still on display. Then she looked Max directly in the eye. "If this backfires, they're going to be in a heap of trouble. And as soon as they're stable enough to do without you, you are going to be. Understood?"

Max smiled in the face of her assertion, but spoke not. He waited, patiently. Natalie picked up her glass of iced tea and raised it to Max. "'Find out what makes her feel safe'; well played, you old badger." She praised before turning to Sandra. Carl saw the understanding in her eyes and started to think that Ben had not been the only one acting… odd.

"Yes, she can, so long as her grades stay good." The redhead told the blonde. Carl couldn't recall the last time Sandra had been happy enough to actually _hug _Natalie, but as Frank said earlier: if this was as good as it got, he'd take it.

* * *

A/N: Hi all! Hope you enjoyed the chapter, I had a blast writing it. Made some edits on account of grammatical errors I made or narrative unclearness. Many thanks to the guest reviewer who pointed them out, glad you're enjoying the story and care enough to improve it.

I'd like to adress a common compliment/criticism that this story gets: it reminds them very much of _Little Moments_, by Shadow59. This story was heavily inspired by 'Little Moments' and the later chapters by the oneshot 'Hurt' by csgt. If you like this story and haven't read those two, go do so as they put it down better than I ever could; csgt has a much more concise writing style and is better in getting to the point (whereas I'm going to take forever getting the brats to play ball) and Shadow59 just has the best sense of humor. When I read those stories I wanted more like it, hence _Reminder_ was born.

However, the story received much more attention than I'd thought it would, and has since grown bigger than I had planned. Part of me regrets that, as the first chapter was obviously the strongest, but tis what it is. I need to start thinking of where exactly I'm going to take this and how, which is why the update speed is going to drop down to once a week (every weekend is the idea).

If you have any ideas on where _you _think the story should be headed, I'd love to hear it. I have a general outline planned, but the feedback really helps flesh it out.


	5. Chapter 5: Adoration

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10.

A/N: The cover art for this story is by the artist 'feason' (also goes by 'season'). You can find them on Pixiv.

* * *

Gwen sighed contently, stretching out over the mall bench she and Ben had conquered, the light through the overhead windows of the hall warming her pleasantly. Sometimes it felt like all she did anymore was nap, but considering how terrible her nights generally were, she'd take it. _And Ben will be over with the sweets any minute now..._

"That's a lot of smoothie for just one loser, Tennyson."

Gwen's ear twitched at the sound of an obnoxious voice and sighed to herself. _Can't take him anywhere, can I? _She thought ruefully, standing up to glance around the first floor of the mall. Locating the origin of the sound (near the Mr. Smoothy parlor; she really should've guessed that), she picked up Ben's backpack and began to make her way over the where her doofus of a cousin was standing, an expression on his face that almost made her burst into hysteric giggles. He looked just like grandpa when he was absolutely _done _with someone, down to the twitching of his left eye.

Ben wasn't as diplomatic though. "Hi, Cash, J.T., Buzz off." He told the larger boy and his stooge, making to move around them, hands filled with two different smoothies.

The taller one (Cash? Hadn't Ben mentioned him once or twice?) blocked his way and she could _feel _Ben's annoyance skyrocket. But, to his credit, he only took a deep breath and merely repeated himself. "Buzz off, _please."_

"Aw, c'mon Tennyson. You don't need that much for your scrawny butt. Why don't you share some with us?"

Ben's eyes flickered to her on her approach and she held up her hands, a silent question on her face. _Want me to do something here…? _

Ben's expression gave her no answer, so she moved closer but did not intervene. She was pretty sure Ben could handle himself against a random bully these days; even when he wasn't in one of his stronger forms, he had plenty of instinct for butt-kicking. But that would risk the food. Tricky situation.

"Maybe it's for his girlfriend." The smaller boy suggested, snickering. Both Gwen and Ben snorted, though the boys only heard Ben's. _Well, if they mean a girl who is also his friend, they're not wrong..._

"Nah, who would date _that _twig?" Cash snarked unkindly.

Ben looked extremely unimpressed. The range by which he could express distaste had really flourished during his summer with her. "Really? 'Twig' and 'loser'? That's the best you've got?" His eyes rolled skyward. "Please tell me I wasn't ever _this _dumb..." It was like hearing herself talk. It brought a proud tear to her eye. _My little guy is growing sassier by the day. _She thought, a distant part of her brain heaving with laughter.

Seeing the bullies tense, Gwen decided it was time to step in. "There you are!" She said as she pushed past the bullies, nearly knocking the smaller one over when Ben's backpack smacked him on the back of the head when she slung it over her shoulder. _Oopsie._ Placing one hand on her hip, she held out the other and smiled cheekily at Ben, studiously ignoring the two brats right behind her. "I think that strawberry-vanilla one is mine, _dear_."

Ben looked startled for a moment, but recovered quickly. Her doofus was always sharper when there was a joke to be played. "I believe it is, _sweety."_ _Oof_, he was going all in alright. The looks the bullies gave them were priceless.

"Wha- what the hell, Tennyson?!" Cash stammered, both kids looking at her oddly, both red-faced.

Ben gave him his best confused, innocent look. It was actually quite adorable when he wasn't using it to get out of doing the dishes. "Jealous?" He teased, only to be forestalled by Gwen latching onto his free arm.

"Come on Ben! You said you'd walk me home." _Before __your__ ego can get any bigger._

Ben waved cheerily to the still flabbergasted bullies before he fell into step beside her. "Of course, m'lady."

* * *

"I can't believe they fell for that!" Ben guffawed, clutching his belly with one hand. "Way to sell it, cuz."

Gwen flicked her hair before taking a spoon of her smoothie, equally perplexed at that their blindness. "We have literally the same eyes, how could they miss it? They must've been too shocked at the thought of anyone dating _you_ to notice." She gave him a sideways glance. "Not sure what that says about my standards though." She joked. Ben feigned offense, but there was a mischievous glimmer in his eyes.

"I think they were too busy gawking at you." He teased, waggling his eyebrows. Gwen felt all the blood drain from her face and she shuddered, violently.

"No. No. _No_!" Turning green she threw the rest of her smoothie in the trash. Ben was laughing too hard to care about the waste. "You have got to be kidding me! Those mouth-breathers?"

Ben wiped a tear from his eye, downing the last of his snack. "I wish I was kidding! But they didn't turn all red because of shock, Lucky Girl." He sang at her before dancing out of the way of her attempt to smack him.

"Stop laughing! It isn't funny!"

"It totally is, dweeb! Imagine that, my school bullies stammering before the nerd queen." He placed a hand on his chin, looking at her thoughtfully. "Hey, maybe you should really hook up. With some luck, you'll scar them for life."

"Ben!"

"Just saying! It would get them off my back for a while."

"Ugh, I was going to say 'I'd rather date you' but then I remembered, it's _you_." She muttered, rubbing her temple to stave off a headache.

"Hey! I'm totally the better deal here." He objected, before course correcting when it sank in what he was actually arguing. "I-I mean I would be. Hypnotechnically!"

"Hypothetically, and really now? How's that?" She quirked her most unimpressed eyebrow at him, trailing her eyes up and down his short frame and shaking her head, indicating she found him lacking. That she found him cute was not something she was going to share. There'd be no living with him after that.

He shrugged. "I dunno, didn't really have a punchline for this set-up. But I guess it's kind of like how the story usually goes, right? Hero and distressing damsel and all that."

"It's 'damsel in distress', and I call stinkfly on that one! What about all the times I saved your butt?"

"Puh-leeeeease. A hero doesn't need saving." He struck pose to get his point across. He looked ridiculous. And adorable. She really needed to have her head checked if she kept thinking _this_ was cute. Her standards were dropping lower by the day.

"Riiiight, and I guess they also don't cry during movie night?"

"Okay, FYI, that scene with the dog was so manly that my eyeballs were sweating. That's my story and I'm sticking to it."

"Of course you are." She smiled indulgently at him, reaching over to pinch his cheeks with both hands. "My little hero." Shoe cooed. The foul glare he gave her was one for the record books and she loved it, right up until he reached up and yanked the hair on the back of her head. He'd learned all her weak spots alright.

_Oh, he's in for it. _Her hands shifted from his cheeks to tangle in the hair at the sides of his head. His eyes widened and she could've sworn she saw a drop of sweat roll down his face.

"Gwen?" He asked nervously. "What are you doing?" He shivered at her answering smirk.

"It just occurred to me that we haven't sparred in _ages_." He started quivering, hands working frantically to find a weak spot on her. Her smirk widened. "I think we should rectify that."

* * *

Frank was drawn from the newspaper article he was reading by a scraping sound. Glancing around the living room, he saw nothing out of the ordinary until he looked down to where Ben was dragging himself across the floor, coming to a stop before the couch Frank was seated on. Reaching up, the boy hauled himself onto the cushions with a grunt of effort.

When he pulled himself into a sitting position beside the older man, Ben made a sound halfway between a relieved sigh and a pained groan, and sank into the plush pillows. The kid looked like he'd run a marathon and then got run over by a truck. Twice. That left only one explanation.

"Redheads?" He inquired mildly, turning the page in his newspaper.

Ben groaned. "Redheads." He confirmed, shuddering.

"If it's any consolation, they're worth it. Usually."

The boy was silent for a moment before a, and there really was no other way to describe it, _smitten _smile graced his features. "Yeah, she is."

Clamping down on the instinctive discomfort that came to him when he heard his nephew talk of his daughter while looking like _that, _he opted to instead attempt to gain some information. Frank hadn't seen the boy since the photo viewing a week ago, and since then Gwen had spent the weekend at his brother's place and the kids had met up every day throughout the last week of the summer holiday, usually going to visit their grandfather or hanging out at one of their houses. Mostly, that meant Ben's house, as he had all the video games. Natalie had had some choice words about Gwen's new hobby, but she wasn't nearly pissed off enough about it to actually put a stop to it. Tonight, though, Ben was staying with them.

"Still haven't grown tired of hanging around Gwen, then?" Frank decided discretion was the better part of valor here; wouldn't want to have the boy clamp up because he came charging out of the gate with all his guns blazing. He needn't have worried either way, as Ben seemed to be eager enough to talk.

"Can't believe I'm saying this, but it's pretty okay. I didn't think getting lectures from the commander in geek could be fun, but she manages. Somehow." Ben probably realized he had inadvertently insulted Gwen in front of her father about half a second after he said it, but Frank waved off his apologetic spluttering.

"If Gwen has an issue with a nickname, I'm sure she can handle you." The boy nodded enthusiastically. Silence reigned for a second before Frank moved onto the meat of the meal. "How… how is she doing?" He was taking a chance here. Not even their grandpa could get them to talk about much of anything regarding whatever it was that they went through. At this point it was an open secret in the family: everybody knew something was wrong, and the kids knew that they knew.

But that hadn't prompted them to be more open; if anything they were even more secretive. It was literally the only reason Max had managed to convince them all that they couldn't get professional help: if the kids wouldn't talk to them, they weren't going to talk to some stranger either. That, and Natalie was an on hand psychologist. There was little point. However, close lipped as they were about their trauma and their own struggles, Frank had quickly learned that getting them to talk about how the _other_ was doing was much easier.

Ben was silent for a moment, but did not clamp up as Frank had feared. "She's… better. Today at least. So far." He concluded haltingly. "She was first out the door this morning, no hesitation whatsoever." Was that a hint of pride in his voice? That was just _precious._

Frank nodded, feigning comprehension when he really only partially understood the significance. Natalie had already made the (in hindsight rather obvious) extrapolation that Gwen's fears were connected to being outside, specifically the garden. What that said about the trauma was difficult to say, so the significance of going outside on her own wasn't fully understood either.

But he'd seen her run from their garden, which she'd always loved, in tears a little over a week ago. And he'd seen her fearlessly charge into another one chasing after Ben last Friday. Even if he understood little else about this, the significance of that was not lost on him.

"And… what of you?" He asked, cautiously, eyes still fixed on his newspaper, trying to sound as casual as possible. Either Ben was too preoccupied to clamp up, or he was in an indulgent mood, because the boy ran a hand through his hair and answered him.

"I do well when Gwen's alright, or when I can help her be alright." He asserted, absently, before whispering so softly that Frank, for a second, thought that he had imagined it. "It's my fault anyway, so I gotta." Frank maintained his composure and filed that tidbit away for sharing with Nat later. The boy probably didn't realize he'd even said that out loud. It was obvious that Ben could help Gwen overcome her… episodes, but they hadn't known that Ben felt directly responsible for Gwen's wellbeing, much less for what was wrong with her, in such a personal way.

Honestly, it was still difficult to get his head around the fact that they cared at all. Their closeness was the one good thing that had come out of their summer on the road as far as Frank was concerned.

He wanted to continue his line of questioning, but was interrupted by the voice of his daughter, who plopped down next to Ben. "How's my sparring partner doing?" She asked cheerily, bumping shoulders with her cousin, who responded by-

Ouch. The glare Ben gave for that one was just _nasty_.

"Peachy." The boy bit out, before he smirked. "I was just going to tell your dad about the trail of broken hearts you left behind you at the mall."

The newspaper ripped.

* * *

Ben breathed in deeply, the night air filling his lungs and banishing the last vestiges of sleep from his mind. Wiggling his toes in the grass, he opened his green orbs to see his cousin standing on the paved part of her parents' garden. The moonlight made her look paler, even if her hair an eyes remained vibrant as ever. But those big, expressive eyes did nothing to hide her apprehension.

"Come on." He encouraged, trying to sound gentle. It wasn't his nature to be, but he could try for her. Gwen took a fortifying breath, holding it briefly before exhaling. Raising her foot to step forward, it hovered in the air for a moment, before she firmly put it back down where it had been, breathing heavily, as if the wind had been knocked out of her. Her face crumpled in the ensuing silence.

"I will not be this _weak_." She hissed, a hint of desperation in her voice, echoing what she told him, told herself, weeks ago. The same words she'd whispered brokenly when she'd sought him out in the guestroom earlier. He'd taken her by the hand, through the sleeping house, into the garden where he now stood on the grass, just out of her reach.

"You're not weak." He told her, firmly. "I've got some bruises to prove that." And he was not salty about that. Not. At. All. _C'mon,_ He thought to himself, fighting to keep the encouraging smile on his face. _I'm supposed to be the hero! I can fix… this… drat._

Stifling a sigh, he held out his hands to her. She eyed them with confusion before her eyes met his and he could see realization dawn. He hoped his smile was as convincing as he needed it to be.

"I've been slacking off on my dancing." He admitted, part of him disbelieving that he actually offered to go through this nonsense again, part of him disbelieving that he even _cared_ about that at all at this point.

She stared at him, teary eyes wide in surprise before she tentatively reached for him, grabbing the extended hands. "Can't have that." She remarked, going for a casual tone. They both ignored the way her voice quivered, or the way her hands shook in his.

Retracting his arms slowly, he still very nearly pulled her over before she found the courage to take that necessary step onto the grass. He could barely hear the sound of her small foot crunching on the grass, but the second she did she scrunched her eyes shut and a gasp wracked her body, all off her tensing for an attack. She took the next two steps to close the distance with him like that, only opening her eyes when she was right before him. They were filled with fear, and he could hear her heart beat a mile a minute.

He grinned at her and couldn't quite stop the admiration from leaking into his voice. "You did it." Gwen released the breath she'd been holding, gasping past a shaky, disbelieving smile. Ben was only just quick enough to catch her when her legs gave out beneath her, steadying her for long seconds before he dared to step back again. "It's okay." He reassured her. "I got you."

He placed one of her hands on his shoulder before letting one of his fall to her side, waiting briefly for her nod before stepping forward to begin the dance. She moved with him, slowly and stiffly at first, before she started relaxing bit by bit. Though her eyes were red rimmed from crying and her voice slightly scratchy, she recovered her cheekiness quickly.

"Dancing in the moonlight, Ben? How _romantic_." She quipped.

Ben's face heated, but his grin widened. "Told you I was the better deal."

Gwen hummed in agreement as she leaned in to bump foreheads with him, the tips of their noses brushing. Ben smiled.

_Yeah, definitely worth it._

* * *

A/N: Poor Gwen. Relapses are one of the worst things about PTSD; you think you're doing fine, only to look up from one second to the other and find yourself back at square one. Blame Crowded House for the fluff. Would love to hear what you thought!


	6. Chapter 6: Nightmare

Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10.

* * *

"Will you be alright, sweetheart?" her mother asked, not sounding overly worried, but more pointedly than she'd usually care to. Gwen smiled and rolled her eyes, slinging her backpack over her shoulder.

"I'll be fine mom." She declared firmly. She was confident in this; she'd been getting better this past week, and so had Ben. She'd be fine. _They'd_ be fine. "It's just school. I can handle it in my sleep." Her mother's answering snort was somehow graceful.

"I suppose that mean's you'll be bringing back straight A's again?" She arched an eyebrow, but the warmth in her eyes belied her strict tone. That was another improvement over the past week: her mother had been kinder in general. Ben's parents had changed their tune a little too, being more present in their little boy's life where before they'd mostly left him to his own devices. He complained that it was stifling over the phone, but Gwen knew him better than that. He liked it too.

Gwen grinned. "You know it, though they'll probably go easy on us for the first day."

"Glad to hear that you're motivated." Her father remarked as he passed her by on his way to the kitchen, ruffling her hair.

"Dad! Now I gotta fix it again..." Quickly turning to the small hallway mirror to fix the clips again, her father chuckled in the background.

"No need to fuss; you'd look beautiful in a hefty bag, sweet potato." He remarked, which caused Gwen to roll her eyes to the ceiling. She'd been doing that a lot around her folks lately.

"Way to lower the bar, dad." This earned a chuckle from both her parents, even if Natalie still lightly swatted Frank's shoulder when he came up beside her with two mugs of coffee. Then she turned to Gwen, expression severe again.

"And remember Gwen, _try_-"

"-not to reach out for Ben during school hours, I gotta learn to stand on my own two feet." She echoed her mother's words from last Friday. Both children had promised to try, knowing that they couldn't rely on each other 24/7, not for just getting through the day at least. At the time she hadn't been too keen on it, but she thought she could handle it today. She hoped Ben could, too. Her father smiled at her.

"Have fun at school, honey. And remember," At this her father's expression turned deadly serious. "if any boy gets a little too familiar, you have permission to use karate. Is that understood?"

Gwen groaned, head dropping in her hands. _Scratch doing homework. After school plans: maim Ben. Extensively. _

"I gotta go!" She declared, cutting the conversation short, before quickly giving her folks a peck and sprinting out the door. She grabbed her bike and started paddling, ready to start a new year of kicking butt; this time on paper. She took a deep breath, feeling the wind rustle her hair and the leaves in the trees.

Today was going to rock, she'd make darn sure of it.

* * *

Today was crap, Ben had no other way to put it.

He'd woken up groggy from a broken night, fully expecting his first day at school to be just like any other day in that hellhole: pretend not to sleep through classes, sleep through the breaks, avoid the bullies, rinse and repeat the next day. Maybe he'd make small talk with some of his classmates about their summer break, but really, what was there to tell when all the cool parts of his holidays were a secret and all of theirs was lame in comparison?

And that didn't even begin to cover the parts that made him want to curl into a ball and scream. No, between that and his lack of sleep, Ben expected to have a quiet day of catching some z's.

Which was why he was so surprised that when he glanced up from the watch for what felt like the millionth time that day (still green, not ticking. He was fine. He was_ fine)_ he found Anna and a few of her friends looming over where he was seated against the wall of the school building. This was new; people generally left him well alone and Anna & co were part of the popular crowd, which meant they thankfully avoided him like the plague._And just when you least want them around..._

"Hey, Ben," Anna started, flicking her long blonde hair and leaning on the wall right next to him. "anything interesting happen this summer?" She asked, inspecting her nails innocently.

Ben chewed is sandwich, considering his reply. He had no idea why she and her friends were here, or why she wanted to talk to him about his summer, and his first instinct was to tell her to buzz off, buuut Gwen would tell him that was just his rotten mood talking. It would be more trouble than it was worth. "Had a roadtrip with my grandpa and cousin. Pretty neat." He spoke through a full mouth, taking secret enjoyment from watching her nose wrinkle in distaste. Not nearly as cute as when Gwen did it though.

"…anything _else?_" The girl pressed, expression shifting into an impish smile, big blue eyes dancing with mirth. She had something up her sleeve. Too bad he didn't have the energy to spar with her.

"I went to space to save the universe from getting blown up." He deadpanned, his short night finally getting the better of him, before fixing Anna with a disgruntled look. "Why do _you _want to know?"

Before Anna could respond, a brunette, Lizzie, bounced forward excitedly. "We wanna hear about your girlfriend!" She chirped, squealing. Anna sighed.

"I was leading into that, Liz." She muttered.

But Ben didn't hear her, only staring at Lizzie with a flabbergasted expression. "My... _what_?"

"Cash told us!" Lizzie continued, oblivious to his shifting demeanor. "He said she was super cute! Is she? When did you meet her? Did you hold hands? Cuddle? kiss? No not like that, just you know, a peck or something-"

"Lizzie!" Ben cut her off, flushing beet red and waving his hands frantically. "It's not like that at all!"

Lizzie pouted at him, chestnut eyes huge. It was much harder to dislike her than Anna; Lizzie didn't have an evil bone in her body. "Aaaw, so you didn't do any of that?"

"I-We-It's not-" Ben was about to inform her that he did _not _do those things with his _cousin _when the words died on his tongue and he realized he had done allthose things with Gwen, down to the letter. He felt his flush deepen and spread.

Lizzie noticed and eyed him slyly, waggling her eyebrows suggestively. "Oooh I see Bennie takes good care of his girlfriend." She sing-songed. Ben was about to splutter with indignation, again, when the words sank in.

"_You better hope your cousin knows how to fly!" Gwen's face smirked at him as she took a step back on the wall._

His jaw slammed shut, cutting off any words he may have uttered, and felt his heartbeat quicken, shaking his small frame to the core.

"_Going somewhere without your old pal Kevin?" The monster grinned before grasping Gwen's hand with his own flaming paw, Ben's heard plummeting when he heard her scream._

He shook harder, eyes fixed ahead but unseeing, breath quickening, mout struggling to formulate words.

"_Save the wild dog routine will ya?" She scolded as she stood and dusted herself off. "It's not like I want to be here, but" she turned to him, smile as cocky as ever, eyes innocent. "I figured you could use some back-up." _

In his mind's eye he saw that carefree gaze morph into a horrified one as the jaws of the Wildvine closed around her, into the teary eyes that he saw when she woke from her night terrors and begged him not to leave her alone. Not again.

Ben grabbed his bag and ran, only stopping when he had reached the back of the school where it was quiet, before emptying his stomach onto the pavement.

* * *

On Tuesday, Gwen's strength held until she was past the threshold off her house. She must've looked quite a sight, hair askew, quivering and holding back tears. Her mother took one look at her and all but commanded her to call Ben, _immediately_.

"You've more than earned it." Her mother had told her, eyes hard and sad at the same time. Gwen didn't linger to figure out that expression. She raced up the stairs, pulled the phone out of her backpack and selected Ben's number.

The second ring had barely started before his voice came to her, and she instantly felt the tension in her shoulders ease. "Gwen? You okay?" And what she wouldn't give to record that worried question, go back in time and play it to herself and Ben from a few months ago. They'd never believe it.

Sitting down on her bed, Gwen let out a watery laugh. "I've seen better days, but I managed. You?" Ben's response was interrupted by a loud squeal from his end of the line.

"'Ben' and 'Gwen'? That is so _cute_!" She heard a girl yell, distantly.

"Will you can it Lizzie?!" Ben snarked, and despite her day, she instantly felt better. Even if she felt a little guilty for forgetting that Ben's school went on for longer than hers on Tuesday.

"Having some girl trouble, doofus?" She teased, heart lifting. This was familiar. This was safe.

"You're the only girl that gives me trouble." She didn't know how, but she could _hear_ him blushing. "Cash and J.T. blabbed, and now _some people_ won't stop asking about my 'girlfriend.'" Gwen smirked, wiping the last of the moisture from her eyes.

Before she could tease him he was again interrupted, this time by an angry, adult voice. Ben's next words were sheepish and apologetic. "Hey, dweeb, I'm really sorry, but I think I gotta go. Mrs. Robinson looks like she's going to hit me with her music-stick-thingy. Call you when I get out... or do you want me to stay on?"

Leave it to Ben to make it sound like he was waiting to be released from jail, and leave it to her lovable idiot to say _exactly_ the right thing to make her feel better. "It's called a 'baton', lame brain. And thanks, Ben, I appreciate it, but I can wait."

"Oh, of _course_ they use batons in this prison..." Ben muttered. "Okay, but call me if something happens, I'll help-" He cut himself off, and she wondered for a second if he'd lost connection, before he finished with a quiet, "bye, Gwen." The line went dead but Gwen smiled in spite of it and the strangeness of his last words. It wasn't nearly as good as feeling him hug her, or the tickling of his breath on her neck when she woke up, or even the sound of his heartbeat in her ears. But she'd heard his voice. It was enough of a reminder that he was alive for the next hour or so.

Standing up, she wiped her eyes one more time, walked over to her desk and pulled her homework from her backpack. She had paper butts to kick after all.

* * *

"No doofus, I don't think the pompadour worked on you. It was cute, but its just not your speed." Gwen spoke into the receiver, huddled up with her phone under the covers late Wednesday night.

Ben's voice over the phone was cocky. "Everything's my speed, I'm the fastest thing on the planet!"

Gwen snorted. "Thus spoke the biggest slacker on the planet." A smirk graced her features. "Maybe you could try a mohawk though. You seemed to love putting mine up."

"Eh- you hair's better for that." Was that discomfort she heard?

"How so?" She purred and she could hear him shift in his own bed, the sheets rustling.

"Its thick." He deadpanned and Gwen shot up in her bed. Definitely _not_ discomfort and that was definitely _not_ a compliment.

"Are you calling my hair fat?!" She cried in mock outrage.

"Yup, you could totally be in the heavyweight class of a Sumo Slammers roster; you and your hair. Gotta lay off on the cupcakes carrothead, or you'll end up a pumpkinhead." He guffawed.

Gwen groaned and fell back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. "That was terrible, freakazoid." Ben scoffed.

"Everyone's a critic."

Silence reigned after his assertion, and Gwen felt herself become twitchy. They'd been having weird silences for the past few days and it was driving her up the wall. It used to be that their quiet was companionable, all the more so if they could huddle up in the RV with a book and video game.

But now it filled her with disquiet, as did next to every word that came out of Ben's mouth recently. Both were filled with an emotion that she couldn't pinpoint, but she knew it wasn't a good one. It worried her. It didn't sound like Ben at all.

"Hey, loser." She started, mind going back to that day where they played around with their hair and gave grandpa a concert. "Sing me a lullaby before I go?"

He didn't reply, and she thought he was going to accept without a fight for all of half a second but then he did the Ben thing to do: he shot her down remorselessly.

"Not even if Vilgax had me by the throat." He jested and she scowled with a pout, even if he couldn't see it over the phone.

"Calls my hair fat, won't sing me a lullaby; you're a terrible boyfriend, you know that right?" She groused.

"If that means you're dumping me, please do. Might get Lizzie and Anna off my back..." He retorted, snickering, sounding a little more like himself. _A good start..._

She forced her whinging past her smile. It was tough going, keeping it out of her voice. "Why do _I_ have to be the one to dump you in this non-existent relationship? Can't you just dump me and tell them I snored or something?"

"You do snore, and I'm saving that dump for a special occasion. Wanna maximize that heartbreak."

She facepalmed. "That sentence, right there, it does not mean what you think it does."

"Whatever, still not singing you a song." He waved her off, tone smug.

"...pleeeeeeease?"

"...Gwen, stop it! I can see the stupid puppy eyes! Stop it!" A sound of frustration caused some static over the line. "Fine! Just stop the eye thing already!"

Gwen fist pumped. "Score!" She settled in to listen, hearing him sigh on the other end of the line.

"That shouldn't even work over the phone, so not fair..." Ben whined.

Gwen shrugged, uncaring that he couldn't see it. "Chalk it up to my feminine charm. Song please."

Ben snorted. "Maybe in that stupid yellow dress..." He muttered, so quietly that Gwen doubted he'd actually said it, before he soldiered on. "_Anyway_, pay attention, cuz I'm only going to do this once..." She heard him inhale on the other side of the line and she tensed in anticipation… though nothing could've prepared her for the sound of Stinkfly's voice blaring from the phone.

"Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me!"

Gwen burst out laughing at the absolutely ridiculous vocals while Ben kept singing in the background.

"I ain't the sharpest tool in the sheeeed!"

"Okay, okay you've made your point, please stop!" Gwen wheezed, holding her belly. Taking a second to catch her breath, she grinned into her phone. It took her all of a minute to get herself under control. "Fine, I won't dump you."

Ben sighed again, dramatically. It was a lie, she could feel him grin, surely as she could feel her own. He finally sounded normal again, if briefly. "Guess I won't dump you either. Your snores are kinda cute anyway."

* * *

The sight that greeted Natalie upon opening her little girl's bedroom door had been to see Gwen huddled into a ball on her bed, shaking and crying into her knees. Natalie ached to see it. _She'd been doing so well… _

As common an occurrence as Gwen's tears had become these last few weeks, seeing her daughter (her strong, smart, beautiful daughter) so sad and afraid made the woman's heart wrench. It was enough to make her want to throw all those years of tiger-momming Gwen out the window. She'd burn all the trophies and good grades herself if it meant she knew how to make her little girl smile again.

Tentatively walking over, she sat down beside the child and embraced her. She could feel Gwen's heartbeat, fluttering like a small bird, and Natalie wondered how she could have gone so long without hugging her only child.

"You're safe, sweety. Nothing's going to harm you here." Natalie told Gwen, running her fingers through the little girl's red hair. When Gwen looked up, Natalie was taken aback; in the best of ways.

Gwen was smiling. Teary eyed, for sure, but smiling broadly and her laughter was barely contained, causing her body to shake. "I-" Gwen started breathlessly, before a giggle cut her off. "I- I slept through the night!" She confessed before breathless laughter robbed her off words.

It took half a second for Natalie to register what her daughter had said, but when she felt like bursting out laughing herself. Gwen had slept; no nightmares, no lying awake crying, for the first time since she got back. "That's amazing, honey."

Gwen grinned and nodded enthusiastically before gasping. "I gotta tell Ben!" She declared and her mother chuckled ruefully. _One track mind, that girl._

"You do that, little carrot." Gwen glared at her for the old nickname. "After you're done, come downstairs. Were having pancakes." The girl cheered and embraced her mother.

"Thanks mom! You're the best!"

"Don't let your father hear that; he'll pout." Gwen giggled and dove for her phone on the nightstand, and Natalie took it as her cue to go. Making her way out of the room and down the stairs, she only caught the first bit of the conversation.

"Ha! Guess what doofus? Solid eight hours! Maybe you should sing me a lullaby more often."

Shaking her head in amusement, she descended the stairs with a satisfied smile. She still doubted Max's approach to this situation occasionally, still worried that they were only fighting symptoms instead of the taking on the root of the problem. She still fretted over how close Ben and Gwen had become in their effort to heal. But Ben's role in her daughter's steady recovery was obvious. Whatever else she'd thought of the boy, he could be relied upon to be there for Gwen. He was in for one hell of a birthday present as far as she was concerned.

It was scary, all of it. It could blow up in their faces in so many ways. But it was working. She could deal with weird later if it meant Gwen could smile like that again.

* * *

Ben woke from the dream, gasping for breath and falling from his bed in cold sweat, half tangled with his sheets. He frantically looked around for Gwen, only to find himself in his own room without her, morning light barely illuminating it. Heart pounding in his ears he spotted his phone on the nightstand. Reaching for it, the omnitrix entered his field of vision.

It flashed orange and red.

Ben screamed, flaying and trying to scamper away from it and falling flat on his back, tugging at the watch in an effort to remove, before stilling, breath coming out in desperate pants with his eyed screwed shut, tears welling up. _No I don't want the pulses again they hurt I don't __want to__ explode-_

_Calm. Down. _

Funny, how the helpful voice in his head always sounded like the Gwen. He took steadying breaths, counting the seconds for each inhale and exhale like aunt Natalie had taught him. He lost count twice before he finally managed to find the presence of mind to open his eyes and glance at the watch miserably. Through watery eyes he could faintly tell that the dial was still green and he let out a shuddering breath.

The knowledge did little to banish the images behind his eyes. It was a familiar dream at this point. Ghostfreak putting Gwen on ledge; Kevin holding her hostage for the omnitrix; the Wildvines dragging her under. In his dream, she would jump. In his dream, Kevin would grab her head in a flaming hand and squeeze. In his dream, the Wildvines ate.

In his dream, it was always him in the body of whatever monster came for her, looking out through the eyes of her murderer.

He let his head fall back and stared up at the ceiling, spread eagle, feeling moisture trail down the side of his face in sluggish rivers, shivering. He felt drained before the day had even started. Ben raised the omnitrix above him. It flashed orange in his mind's eye. He grit his teeth, breath shaky.

"Please," he begged of it, softly, voice cracking. "Please," the tears came anew and a sob broke through his clenched teeth. "_p-please_, let me go_." _

The omnitrix had no answers for him. He dropped his arm and cried until his tears were spent. Afterwards he got up and started to prepare for another day with his worst fear attached to his wrist. Some hero he was turning out to be.

* * *

A/N: Gwen's steadily getting better. Ben on the other hand… well. This chapter really kicked my ass all over the keyboard, so sorry if its a little all over the place. I wanted to illustrate the steady divergence between Ben and Gwen during their first week at school, so I hope that was conveyed at least. Hope you enjoyed, lemme know what you think! :)

To 'TheRealXenocide': 'Crowded House' is a band formed in the 80s. You might know them from 'always take the weather with you.' 'Fall at your feet' and 'Don't dream it's over' are basically unnoficial soundtracks of this fic at this point lol. Though this chapter had 'how to save a life' blaring in the background.

And for those wondering: Anna and Lizzie are inspired by Pacifica Northwest and Mabel Pines from Gravity Falls.


	7. Chapter 7: Home

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10.

* * *

"He what?" Gwen asked, not sure if she had heard her grandfather correctly.

Grandpa Max sighed, the sound causing static over the phone. She could imagine him pinching the bridge of his nose. "He had a panic attack during the night and… damaged himself again." The older man was probably debating on whether or not to share the extent of that damage. That he eventually chose not to made ice run down Gwen's spine. "He took care of it, mostly, and went to school despite his parents insisting he stay home and get..."

_Get me._ Gwen thought, fear turning into rage._ Which HE should have done a week ago by the sound of it._

"You want me to go kiss his boo boos better." She asserted, not feeling charitable enough to refer to Ben's… hurts, with the proper gravitas. Anger was easier to handle than sorrow. She heard grandpa chuckle ruefully, though it sounded brittle to her ears.

"Well yes, but that's not why I called. You'd have done that without my call." Here his voice turned serious. "Gwen, I know you well enough to know that you're mad at him for not coming to you, and for doing what he did. But I want you to promise me that you'll save the rough-housing for when he's better, and to think before you act. Can you promise me that?"

Gwen was about to protest before she bit back her retort. Exhaling angrily, she replied. "Fine. I'll give him ten seconds to dissuade me. After that, I'm giving him a piece of my mind."Probably after hugging him though. And then turn that hug into a stranglehold. _That should work. _

Plan set, she canceled the call, told her teacher (and bewildered classmates) that she needed to see to an idiot relative, and marched out the door and out of the building, making for where the tracking system told her Ben was, only remembering her bike when she was halfway to him already. She didn't care; it was a lovely day and she'd still arrive at about the same time that Ben's school came out. She could retrieve her bike over the weekend.

Marching down the sidewalk, she fumed quietly, feeling her mana crackle all about her, invisible to the naked eye, but tangible enough to cause people to make way for the small red-headed thundercloud as she walked by. She was worried for Ben, scared for him, but also absolutely furious with him. The last time she'd found evidence of his self harm, almost three weeks ago, Gwen had redone Ben's bandages and made him promise to not do it again. To come to her if he needed help. To let her take care of him as he did for her.

And then he didn't. He lied to her. He didn't call out for help when he needed it. And Gwen could just hear his justifications already. 'I didn't want to bother you', 'Its just a scratch, don't worry, I got this'. It was maddening, and she hadn't even gotten to him yet.

By the time she came up to the gates of Ben's school, she was worked up enough to set the building on fire with her magic. She glared around the horde of children. School had only just ended here, and some were clearly waiting for their parents to pick them up, others just hanging around with their friends. Most didn't notice her, and those that did quickly averted their eyes in the face of her obvious wrath.

_But where is that idiot- there!_

Spotting her doofus leave the building, she almost quirked an eyebrow at the sight. Ben had one girl on each arm, talking to him. She supposed these were the famous Anna and Lizzie. Ben had told her on the phone that Cash had blabbed about their little stunt at the mall, and now the kids in his class wanted to hear all about his 'girlfriend', much to the boy's consternation. She was about to walk up to him and zap him with a lightning bolt when she stopped herself, recalling her promise to grandpa. She counted to ten, and as she did she forced herself to really look at him. She was glad she did.

What at first glance had appeared to be Ben being a lady's man took on an entirely different meaning when she saw how he swayed slightly on his feet. It was the girl's support that kept him from falling over. He was talking with them, animatedly, but she could see the fragility of his smiles and the way his eyes were just a bit too wide. He was forcing himself to keep going; she'd seen him do it plenty of times when the hero work didn't allow him to stop.

And his left hand and wrist were covered in bandages...

Deciding that her anger could wait, _had_ to wait, she clamped down on her temper and shoved it to the back of her mind. She'd roast him when she was sure he had the presence of mind to listen. Doing so now would just waste her energy, even if it would make her feel better.

Making her way over to where Ben sat, trying to disentangle himself from the girls, she started to overhear the conversation they were having.

"Sooooo J.T. said you called her 'sweety'; have you got any other pet names for her?" One girl asked, big blue eyes sly. Ben was not impressed, he simply sighed long sufferingly before he started counting on his fingers.

"Well, let's see. I've got dweeb, freakazoid, witch-"

Okay, Gwen may have decided to go easy on him for now, but there were limits. darting forward she poked him in the ribs, hard, before raising that same finger to his face threateningly. "Raise one more finger and I will hurt you, Tennyson." She declared, coldly, glaring down at him. Her slight height advantage had seldom felt so good. She'd expected a hint of fear in response, or perhaps. Surprise would've worked. Instead, she got elation.

"Gwen! Perfect timing!" Untangling himself from the girls' grips, Ben darted around Gwen to hide behind her back. "Save me from these crazy people! Dweeb attack mode, activate!" He punctuated the command by booping her on the head softly. She ignored the way he all but sagged against her back, only acknowledging it by steadying her stance so she could support the added weight.

Suppressing both the urge to laugh and to park Ben's head up his own butt, Gwen shot the girls her best icy glare and was pleased to see the brunette duck for cover behind the blonde girl, mimicking Ben. "Fear me." She deadpanned.

The brunette squeaked and the blonde pinched her nose at the sound, blue eyes rolling skyward. _A kindred spirit_, Gwen thought. _How nice_. Ben patted her on the back. "That'll do." He asserted happily, even if his voice barely carried with how weak it was, before coming to stand beside her, shoulder brushing with her bared one, eyeing her oddly. Or eyeing the dress oddly. He never seemed to be able to stop giving her weird looks when she wore one.

"So, what's the nerd queen doing in a dump like this?" He asked her, the smallest hint of trepidation in his voice.

She looked him dead in the eye before letting her gaze slip meaningfully to the hand he was trying to shield from her view. He shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny. "Feels more like a zoo than a dump; so many weird critters." She asserted, dragging her gaze up to his eyes again. "And they seem to be intent upon harming themselves. Is that boy about to eat a pigeon?"

"What are you-? Oh for-" Ben spun on his heels, finding his energy briefly it seemed. "JAMIE! Just because someone dares you to, doesn't mean you have to do it, you dolt! Put that down! You have no idea where it's been!" The crowd around Jamie groaned in disappointment while the small boy looked at Ben sheepishly before releasing the scared pigeon. Gwen allowed herself to finally laugh in spite of how she felt.

"A month ago you would've been in that crowd, goading him on." She felt compelled to point out. Ben shrugged.

"You find live worms in your meal one too many times, you start to appreciate normal food more." Ben confessed with a shudder. Gwen could sympathize. Before she could say anything else though, she felt someone grab her arm. Turning around, Gwen found that the brunette had snuck up on her and was giving her a grin that reminded her of a shark that had just found its prey. From the corner of her eye she saw that the blonde had done the same with Ben.

"You two lovebirds," the girl holding Gwen started ominously.

"Are coming with us." The blonde finished.

* * *

"This is all your fault." Ben complained to her where they trailed behind the other two girls from Ben's school, straggling through the mall.

"My fault?!" Gwen hissed.

Ben stopped walking and turned to her fully with a glare. There wasn't really any heat in it, he still didn't have the energy for that it seemed. "If you'd called before you visited, I could've ditched them sooner."

She mirrored him. Her glare was way more heated. "If you had put a stop to their delusion sooner, it wouldn't have mattered." She countered.

Faltering, Ben looked mildly uncomfortable. "Yeah, I kinda tried to, but..."

"But what?!"

Ben cleared his throat and glanced pointedly down. Following his gaze she saw her hand clasped clasped with his. Huh. She didn't remember grabbing it. She pulled back as if burned, blushing. "Okay, so we may have gotten a little touchy, but for a pretty good reason-"

"Keep up lovebirds!" Anna encouraged from a few yards ahead, Lizzie giggling beside her.

"We're not lovebirds!" They cried in unison, Ben's face now matching hers in shade.

Anna and Lizzie just smirked coyly and turned back to some store display, leaving them blessedly unobserved for a second. Gwen sighed, before eyeing Ben, attempting to sound casual. "So, why shouldn't I just blow the lid off of this and watch you squirm?"

Ben's eyes flashed to her before glancing away, face reddening again. "They wouldn't believe you anyway." He muttered. At her inquisitive eyebrow, he shrugged. "Just be yourself. You'll get what I mean."

An hour later, Gwen was seriously tempted to contact the Bellwood meteorology department and ask if they had the equipment to measure the bowel temperatures of hell, because Ben turned out to have the right of it this once.

Having decided to forgo anger as her primary emotion for the trip, she'd settled on the next biggest one: worry about his wellbeing. This was old hat at this point, as she'd been doing nothing but that for weeks now; and he for her. It was easy to meander through the mall after the two girls from Ben's school, who were, admittedly, pretty good company, what with Anna being a witty bundle of haughtiness and Lizzie being an absolute goofball.

It was equally easy to fall back into a familiar habits, dragging him over to see stuff (minding the hand after she accidentally grabbed it the first time she wanted to gush about a cool shirt), brushing shoulders when she felt him tense beside her, grab his hand when she saw his eyes widen in fear or outright glomping him when she could _hear _his heart-rate spike. All of those touches were familiar, and they all got the expected commentary from their two companions.

"_Aww how cute, holding hands. Now kiss!"_

"_If you squeeze him any tighter, his head's gonna pop off."_

She ignored them. She knew why they needed the contact. So did Ben. They didn't need anyone else to understand.

What she had _not_ anticipated was all the touches they shared when they _weren't_ going out of their way to comfort each other, which Lizzie and Anna were just as eager to comment upon.

Nor had she been prepared for the sheer amount of them. For every deliberate move made to help Ben calm down, there were three unconscious ones that she didn't even notice until the girls pointed them out. Hands run through hair, a quick brush of her lips on his temple when he cracked a good joke, or the way they'd just step into each other's personal space and stay there. All of them felt familiar, all of them had been done at some point or other for the sake of staving of their shared fears.

These weren't for therapeutic reasons however, but done out of habit and, Gwen was forced to admit, because she wanted to. And clearly, so did Ben.

When she was checking out the display of a closed antique store, Ben snuck up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head against the back of hers, as he'd done so many times before, leaning on her. He was tired. He was scared. He was miserable. She could feel it in every small shake of his tiny frame and every shuddering breath that tickled her neck (and she was _not_ going to acknowledge the shivers that send down her spine. Today was weird enough already).

She sighed, placing one hand delicately on his injured one while raising the other one to tangle in his hair, mindful to not accidentally brush the bandages with her satchel. Even though she had recovered greatly since her first full night of sleep a week ago, she still felt best when Ben was close to-

"Oh my god, will you two get a room?" Anna's voice cut through the moment, before Lizzie's exited babble filled the air.

"No, don't! Please proceed!" She gushed, ears red, eyes fixed on Ben and Gwen.

Anna sighed, dragging the brunette away. "You're such a pervert. Hey guys, we're gonna go to the burger shack. Find us when you're… done." With that they took off, and Ben and Gwen were left alone in a quiet corner of the mall, but not before giving them both a significant look. Gwen's mind flashed to when she'd seen them coming out of school, supporting Ben as he swayed, and decided that she liked having them around for when she couldn't keep an eye on her doofus.

* * *

Silence reigned for a moment before Gwen sighed and Ben could feel her sag ever so slightly against him. "When on Earth did you go from being gross to being… less gross?" Gwen grumbled as she spun around to face him, still close enough for him to see the see the individual hairs of her eyelashes. He grinned at her, sheepish.

"Around the same time you did, I guess, only we weren't on Earth when that changed."

Gwen was silent for a moment before muttering, cheeks faintly pink, "You're right. Its kinda pointless to say it was all a joke when we act like… this. Heck, dropping the family bomb on them wouldn't even cut it, it'd just make it worse."

Ben glanced around aimlessly, feeling his own cheeks heat. "That's kind of why I didn't tell them..."

Gwen grunted in admission, looking at his face with a considering expression. "Right. Not going to think about that; lets continue this conversation _never_. Instead..." She held out her hand to him, raising one brow in challenge. Knowing better than to try and weasel out of it, he held up his bandaged limb for her. He could feel chills race down his spine as he did though.

Silence hung in the air, punctuated only by the soft sound of bandages being removed and the distant noise of people milling about. As more and more of the damage was revealed, Ben grew more and more tense. Gwen, on the other hand, could've been carved from stone for all she revealed, and that worried him more than a lightning storm to the face would have.

Ben was more familiar with Gwen's anger than any person alive. Most days, he relished in teasing the immaturity out of her, seeing her face go red as her hair and come for him. What had grandpa once called it? Masochistic? Perhaps he was, but he knew that her fiery anger would only ever dish out as bad as he gave her. It had been their way of doing things for months. It was an anger he understood.

This was not that anger.

This was a focused, cold fury, and it took every bit of courage he could muster not to bolt. She undid the last of the bandages and examined the exposed flesh. It was an awful sight, purple and black, the last of the healing scabs reopened as well as grazes covering the back of his hand. He swallowed, lips fumbling to give her an explanation, only to come up empty. She didn't press him. Not yet at least.

"You're an idiot." She intoned, glaring sharply at him, green eyes alight with magic. Raising his hand to her lips, she whispered a spell in his skin. Faintly, blue light trailed along his hand and wrist and he could see her hair dance ever so slightly as her power surged.

"_Sarcio_." For a split second, so short that it was barely the ghost of an image, her entire form glowed blue and Ben felt heat spread throughout his hand and wrist, felt the bruising recede and the wounds close.

When it was done, his hand was healed again. Sore, but not damaged. He was about to ask her when she'd learned that, or to rebuke her for using her magic in a place where they could've been caught, when Gwen's knees started to buckle. Ben moved forward quickly, just in time to catch her.

"Gwen? Are you alright?" He didn't let the panic creep into his voice, but he was feeling it. He'd been feeling that around her too often lately; he much preferred Gwen being an indomitable force to her being this… fragile.

Even if she only used that indomitable force to yell at him. He'd take that over this; right up until she punched him in the stomach. Or attempted to at least; calling it a love tap would be generous.

"No fair." She muttered, stifling a yawn. "It's my turn to steady _you_. Quit stealing my turn." She backed out of his grasp a little so she could glare into his face. Ben couldn't hold back a soft chuckle, and leaned forward to bump foreheads with her, gently. She grumbled and swatted at him, ineffectually, before taking a deep breath and straightening her back. When she opened her eyes this time, they were more alert.

"Don't think you're off the hook." The redhead warned, eyes blazing with emerald fire. "First, we're gonna go to the Burger Shack, then I'm taking you to your bed so you can get a good night's sleep and tomorrow I am going to scream at you." She listed off, poking him in the chest. He grimaced, sullenly glaring down at the ground. Or he did until he felt her hand on his chin, raising it with surprising gentleness.

"After that, I'm taking you home." She grinned at him, but Ben could only stare back in confusion.

What did she mean? She was already taking him home to sleep- oh.

Her face faltered a little, but she persevered with a slightly bashful expression. "When grandpa dropped you off after our trip, you said you weren't 'home,'" She recounted. "I figured you meant that the Rustbucket was home- so I thought we could go see grandpa- because we haven't seen him in ages and-"

He facepalmed, cutting off her ramble, but grinned all the same, a soft chuckle escaping him.

"What?" Gwen asked testily, stepping back and crossing her arms, glaring at him with sleepy eyes.

He shook his head at her, bemused. "You are the dumbest, smart person that I've ever met." Then he smiled, shyly, looking at her meaningfully. "The Rustbucket isn't home either."

Gwen's expression was confused for a few seconds, mouth opening to retort, before she froze and color returned to her face with a vengeance. Ben looked away, smiling but feeling slightly awkward, holding out his hand to her. Time to end this before one of them fainted from all the blushing. Ben had a feeling it would be him, and she'd never let him live it down.

"Shall we go visit the fancy restaurant m'lady?" He intoned in his best faux British accent before shifting to normal, eyes snapping back to her. "Bet ya that I can get the burger down the hatch faster than you."

"You're on." Gwen intoned, her expression shifting from shy to a competitive smirk in seconds. Taking his hand, they started in the direction of the distant Shack. In the stillness, Ben looked down at their clasped hands, and he could feel faint disquiet take hold as he took in the Omnitrix. Swallowing, he grit his teeth, jerked his gaze away and shoved it to the back of his mind. He was a hero and he was stronger than this; he had to be.

Beside him, his cousin spoke up, hesitantly, but he latched onto each word anyway.

"What you said about being home." She started, voice quiet. He turned to her to find her gaze fixed on their hands as well, and he only now realized how tightly he was holding on to her smaller hand. She did not back down from it, but instead tightened her own grip, reassuring, anchoring. Her gaze trailed up to meet his, filled with fierce affection. "It's the same for me." She confessed, softly, but with no hint of hesitation left.

He stared at her for a long moment, before leaning in. Gwen, probably anticipating their customary headbutt, angled her head slightly down and leaned in as well. Instead, Ben angled his head so he could press his lips to her cheek, where he lingered for several long seconds. Longer than he normally would. Definitely longer than he should, but he didn't care. Not now.

Pulling back, he could see Gwen had turned a brilliant shade of red, her blush reaching all the way to her collar, and was clearly fighting to hold back a grin. Her mouth moved silently, trying to go for a witty remark but failing. He smirked, heart lifting in a way that had nothing to do with fear.

"Just felt like giving my 'girlfriend' some love." He quipped. She shook her head and rolled her eyes, but her grin became ever more obvious.

"I'm still yelling at you later. No amount of love is going to get you out of that."

_Is that a challenge, dweeb? _Ben shrugged. "I've got a few hours left to convince you not to." He waggled his eyebrows in mock flirtiness.

Gwen's turned to him in full, a competitive smirk gracing her features and her vibrant green eyes flashing with mischief. Ben could admit, if only to himself, that she looked absolutely beautiful in that moment.

"Just try it."_ Challenge accepted, doofus._

* * *

A/N: Typing that ending nearly gave me diabetes, but I'm pretty sure that's what most of my readers are all about anyway. Big shout-out to Car45 for talking me out of taking this story down a darker path, hence why I took it easy on the kids for this one- even if Ben is still going to get an earful. Hope you all like the way I'm handling the romance aspect of the story, it's honest to god way harder to write than the trauma stuff for me so any thoughts you have on it would be welcome.

Speaking of which, I've received legitimate criticism that the parents went way to easy on Max in chapter four. I agree; so next chapter will focus on that for a bit. Better late than never I hope.


	8. Chapter 8: Wrath

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10.

A/N: Two things upfront: you folks are awesome. Seriously. Second, this fic now officially has fanart! Its done by 'Chillguydraws' on Deviantart under the title 'Reminder'. Go check it out!

* * *

"Fine. I'll give him ten seconds to dissuade me. After that, I'm giving him a piece of my mind." With that the call was cut off. Max huffed in amusement before turning around, face falling, leaning against his kitchen counter. For once, the man looked as old as a he was, and then some.

Not that Sandra didn't feel like she'd aged ten years in the last weeks. "What, that's it?" She asked, dubious. Max smiled at her, reassuring despite the obvious strain around his mouth.

"Don't worry, she'll set him straight. She's better at it than either of us." Max eyed her cautiously. "Can I offer you something? I think I've got regular coffee beans in here somewhere- wait, no those are cockroaches-"

"No, thank you. I'd much rather you take a seat." Max sighed at her suggestion. It was the sigh of a man knowing he was trapped. Sandra did not want to think about what that meant.

He lumbered over to the dining area where she sat, taking a seat across from her with ponderous movements, playing up his age. She'd chalk it up to stalling, if she didn't know he was doing it for her sake as much as his, so she would have the time to think of what to say. Not that she needed the time; she already knew exactly what she wanted to say.

"I know we all agreed to bury the axes and work together for the sake of the children." She started. "I may not like it, but you and Natalie had a plan, so we had no better recourse than to trust you." She sighed. "But it's not working, Max." She finished, bluntly. Her father in law didn't even flinch, nor did he have the decency to look shocked. Neither was any indication of him actually agreeing though. He placed a hand on his chin, considering.

"I wouldn't go that far. It hasn't _fixed_ them, that much is true, but they have been improving. Nat tells me Gwen's sleeping full nights most of the time-"

Sandra bared her teeth. "Natalie did not wake up in the middle of the night to find her only child in the garden trying to _bash his hand_ _into a pulp _with a _rock_!" She snarled, temper spiking. Max reeled back as if slapped. Good. He should. "Carl slept on a cot next to Ben's bed for the rest of the night." She took a deep breath.

"We tried fixing this the way you and Nat talked us into and all its gotten Ben is- all it's gotten him is-"

Burying her face in her hands, she sucked in air. She could hear Max shift and feel him place a steadying hand on her shoulder, but she couldn't look at him. She knew she'd see understanding in his eyes, and an unconditional willingness to help in whatever way he could. All the Tennysons were like that, always the hero. She wouldn't be able stay mad at him, and she needed her anger right now, needed it to keep going.

Every alternative would paralyze her.

Steeling herself, and silently congratulating herself on not crying, she looked up with a hardened heart, glare firmly in place. "Tell me."

Max shifted in his seat, retrieving his hand. "I don't know anything more about what's wrong than I already told all of you three weeks ago, and during the following phone calls-"

"Tell me" she interrupted. "about that blasted watch. And don't even bother pretending you don't know; Carl might be used to accepting your half-truths but I will not tolerate them anymore."

Max stilled for a long minute, looking at her face searchingly. Then he leaned back into the plush seat and crossed his arm. "What do you want to know?"

Why Ben couldn't get it off, why he _wouldn't _take it off, why he tried to- "Everything. I need to understand why my son hates it so much."

Max closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was steeling himself; that was never a good sign. "When we started traveling around, I took Ben and Gwen to an old place I used to work. I guess I wanted to show them a little of my life from before they were born." He reminisced. His eyes opened, resolved, but also strangely scared.

"It was an old military base, long abandoned after the Cold War." He stopped speaking after saying that, allowing it to sink in. Sandra could feel cold dread pooling in her stomach.

"Max," she whispered, and this time she made no effort to hold back her fear; her horror was plain for all to see. "what did you attach to my boy?"

"Nothing." Max held up his hands to forestall any outburst. "Ben wandered around and found it on his own. The place had been cleared out, there shouldn't have been anything there except the buildings." His expression turned bitter. "I was wrong."

Again Max took a breath, and Sandra took the opportunity to soften her hold on the table.

"Ben found the watch in an R&D ward of the base. We used to work closely with the CIA in that one." He looked her dead in the eye. "We made devices to assist in espionage and deep cover missions."Sandra grit her teeth.

"So he's got some idiot spy gadget from the seventies strapped to him?" She groused, hoping for it to be true. It was odd, but nothing to be truly worried about. Her heart leaped into her throat when Max shook his head.

"No." The word rang with the finality of a coffin slamming shut. "This was a prototype alternative to the cyanide capsule undercover agents had in their teeth. It was ultimately rejected as too costly and cumbersome." He averted his gaze. "It was a wristband that was supposed to take the user out upon discovery… as well as any surrounding would be discoverers. And half the block they were in."

Sandra raised a hand to her mouth, horrified, the ramifications of that statement sinking in. He couldn't be saying- "Are you saying Ben has a _bomb_ attached to him?!" She all but screamed, standing up and slamming both hands on the table. The anger was a thin veneer over her fear though, and she could feel the tears finally spring free past her glare.

It made too much sense. The fear of the thing, the unwillingness to tinker with it or remove it… but that meant- She collapsed back into her seat.

"Ben knows." It wasn't a question, but a realization. It was obvious, else he wouldn't have such a strong reaction to it, but it was only now truly sinking in what it meant. _Her little boy…_

Max leaned forward onto the table, resting his face in his palms, shielding his eyes. "He found out what it was the same time I did; when he accidentally set of the timer. We dismantled it!" He added quickly, for her benefit. "The charge was removed, its just a cumbersome gadget now. But for a while…"

_For a while_, Sandra thought, _Ben had thought, had known, that he was going to die_. It made her want to scream and cry. And pummel whoever invented the accursed thing.

Sandra swallowed, wiping away her tears. It was a token effort, they kept coming in sluggish waves and there was little point in acting strong now. "How long?" She asked, though her voice was so small and weak that she might as well not have spoken at all. Max heard her anyway.

"Two days." Max confessed, voice… shaky. Taking a closer look, she could indeed see the faint outline of a tear rolling down his cheek, glistening in the afternoon sun that basked the RV in a soft light, large shoulders shaking ever so slightly. If she hadn't been looking for either, she would've missed it. Even though she could clobber the man right about now for his carelessness and his lies, her heart went out to him. Max wasn't like her; he didn't cry easy for joy or for sadness. The last time she'd seen him do so was at his wife's funeral.

The last time she'd seen him cry tears of joy was when Ben and Gwen sang 'happy birthday' together for him when they were four.

"I'm so sorry." He started, sounding as broken as she felt. "I'm sorry I allowed that to happen, and I'm sorry that I didn't tell you. I have no excuse."

Sandra bit her lip again, trying to hang on to her anger. No way was he getting off that easy. "Why didn't you?" She asked, lost. "Tell us, I mean."

He sighed, his large frame slumping in on itself. He sounded tired, so very tired. "Selfish reasons." He finally confessed, leaning back in his seat again, staring at the table top with a saddened gaze for a moment before looking her in the eye again. "Like I told you before, the kids were doing much better while still on the road. I could help them there, give them a familiar space. And, most importantly, they had each other, constantly."

He grit his teeth before soldiering on. "I'd hoped it would pass. I'd hoped that they would be strong enough by the time we arrived in Bellwood to carry on. I'd hoped..." he looked away, eyes scrunching shut, bracing himself. "I'd hoped that I'd never _have_ to tell you, because then I'd never see them again."

Silence met his confession, and Sandra cursed up a flurry in her head. This- this _bastard_ had not only failed to keep her son safe, but had the gall to not tell them all about that little piece of information until the fact that his grandchildren were _broken_ made the issue impossible to ignore… and now she even felt sorry for him. She should take Ben away as far from this man as she could, and tell Nat to do the same with Gwen. She should do exactly as a he feared. Much as she loved him, he deserved it. And yet… she snarled angrily, startling Max.

"We couldn't if we tried, damn it." She hissed, feeling resigned. At his surprised and, darn it, _hopeful _look she elaborated.

"The first time Ben harmed himself, it was… not bad compared to this time. We did call you about it." She glared at him, viciously, and was pleased to see him squirm under it. "You told us you 'didn't know anything', so up and until you clued us all in on picture day on how to handle this, Carl and I tried for a week to get Ben to talk. And to get him to… stop." She blew a frustrated, and sad, breath past her teeth.

"Ben wouldn't listen. He wouldn't talk. And why should he? We always tried being his friends more than being his parents. But now we _need_ to be his parents..." She laughed. It sounded hollow to her own ears. "Now, we're trying to figure it out, when Ben is least capable of waiting for us to do so." Her eyes settled firmly on Max, a smile tugging at her lips. It was a mockery of joy.

"I hate you right now. I don't like it, anymore than you, and I_know_ that you're as broken up about the kids as we are, but I do." Her voice shifted to a whisper, pained. "I don't know how long it will take for that to change." Max closed his eyes and bowed his head. She was sure his heart broke as much as hers over this; they'd always been close, ever since Max introduced her to Carl at a cooking class he gave her.

"But," she continued. "I- _We_\- can't help Ben." She had to swallow at the bitter taste that statement left in her mouth. "He needs someone he trusts and who he'll listen to. He needs _you."_ Her expression turned from bitter to fierce, fixing the shocked man across from her with a deadly stare.

"But if we're going to do this together, we need a better plan. Like Natalie said, we're fighting symptoms. It worked for Gwen. It doesn't for Ben."

Max blew out a breath, contemplating. "I may have an idea for that, but you're not going to like it."

Sandra swallowed. She already knew where this was going, and it would probably involve trusting this moron with her son again. Max didn't wait for her response though, instead reaching over to place a hand over her smaller one, squeezing gently and meeting her sad and angry gaze with his own determined one. There was a promise in that gaze, so similar to Carl's and Ben's that it hurt to look.

"I promise you; I won't let you, or Ben, down again." He swallowed. "I promise." He whispered.

Sandra bowed her head and nodded, hoping beyond hope that she wasn't making the biggest mistake of her life.

* * *

Ben leaned back on his hands, the grass tickling his palms, soaking up the late morning sunlight. A breeze caused goosebumps on his exposed shoulders, but not even that could break the spell. His parents had arranged for him to have a sick day, as had Gwen's mom for her. It was nice to have a longer weekend and to sleep in. He felt a smile quirk his lips.

It was even better to wake up from a dreamless slumber to the soft feeling of the dweeb's breath on his neck and her warmth against his back. Part of him wondered when he'd started actually liking that, rather than just tolerating it.

The house was quiet, his parents having gone off to work, trusting Gwen with his 'care.' His mom had woken him briefly when they left, and to shower him with kisses. Yesterday, when she'd come home just after he and Gwen returned from the mall, she'd looked distraught and had immediately swooped him into a hug, much to his embarrassment. He'd already known why though: grandpa Max had phoned Gwen about the cover story he'd spun before she arrived. It was close enough to the truth, even if they'd have to flesh it out later.

How close it was to the truth still disturbed him.

Hearing footsteps halt before him, he opened his eyes to see Gwen materialize when the blurriness left his vision. She looked small in the baggy jeans she'd stolen from him, and in the white embroidered shirt his mom had loaned her. It was oversized, the collar too wide. That her hair was a tousled mess didn't help either.

But, judging by the stone cold glare she was giving him, teasing her about it would not go down well. He opened his mouth, but a slash of her hand through the air cut him off. Not good. When Gwen resorted to gestures, it meant you were done for. She was going to make good on her promise.

"I've been sitting on this for a day now, and I want to get it out in one go." She spoke softly before taking a deep breath. Ben nodded in understanding and braced himself.

"What were you thinking?!" She yelled and Ben was quite sure his ears were ringing from the force. "You promised me, in the very pigsty that we slept in tonight," she continued, waving a hand in the general direction of the first floor, "that you wouldn't hurt yourself like that anymore. You promised me!" Ben shrunk in on himself, but said nothing. There really wasn't a whole lot that he could say that wouldn't make her even madder. Already he could feel her magic crackling in the air.

"You refused to tell me that you were hurting for _over a week_, and don't think I didn't notice every time you _lied_ to me!" She snarled, glare hardening even as her voice shook. The hurt in her voice got to him far more than her rage did.

"This is _not_ how we do things, doofus!" She took a threatening step forward and he instinctively started to scramble back. "You do _not_ break promises to me!" Another step, another scoot back. "You do _not_ lie to me when you're struggling; you tell me so I can _help you_!" His back hit the backyard tree and he swore inwardly, shade falling over Gwen as well when she stepped up to him under the branches. Nowhere left to run, and Gwen knew it. She squatted down right in front of him and leveled a threatening finger at his face. "And you do _not_ break down without calling me so I can come put you back together!"

Ben opened his mouth to reply, but she cut him off without mercy. "And don't tell me that you 'didn't want to burden me with it' or any of that crap, do you have any idea how much worse it is to sit on the sidelines? You, more than _anyone_, should know how terrible it is to be that powerless! If you pull a stunt like this on me again, I'll tear the Omnitrix off your arm myself and shove it-"

"Yeah Yeah, I know where." He interrupted, angrily, if only to put up the illusion of a fight. "Is that before or after the permanent markers?" At Gwen's heated glare he raised his hands exasperation. "I just wanna know what I'm in for."

She glared at him for a moment longer, before she made a sound of frustration. Ben figured she was either going to smack him or storm away to sulk. Instead, she sat down cross-legged in front of him, arms crossed and eyeing him with a look that was partway between anger, sadness and confusion. He responded by pulling his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around them and hiding his face in them. He couldn't stand the lost, hurt look in her eyes. Not when he put it there.

Long seconds ticked by before Gwen spoke again. "Help me understand this." She started, hesitant. "You used to love this thing." She reached out and traced her fingers over the watch before slowly sliding them to his hand, prying open his own fingers so she could clasp them, if awkwardly. He squeezed back, out of instinct if nothing else. "You used to play with it, go on and on about how amazing it was. You used to _enjoy_ being a hero." _And you don't __anymore__. Why?_

Ben laughed into his arms. Even muffled, it sounded like rock scraping over rock, even to his own ears. "I still do." He insisted. _Half the time._ Gwen heard the unspoken as well as she always did. For once, Ben hated that. He raised his head to meet her gaze.

Gwen's eyes were sad, but fierce. He could see the fire simmer just below the surface. He was going to have to do better than that.

Ben grit his teeth, pulling his hand from hers and cradling his wrist to his chest, looking down at it. The dial was just green. Not yellow. Not red. Just green. He was fine. _He was fine._

Part of him wanted to come out the gate and say it. That he was terrified of it turning into a bomb again; that it still _was _a bomb, just one where the timer had stopped. That he'd put on a brave face in space, not because he didn't care, but because it made his powerless situation easier to bear. That he hated how it drew monsters to him like flies to honey. That he feared that there would come another day where he would not be strong enough to save them -her- from them.

That he wanted it gone because he was afraid of what it meant; that they would always be in danger. The thought made him want to laugh bitterly. Where was that bravery that Gwen had praised him for so often? It had evaporated the second he actually used his brain to think about it all. Little wonder he always tried to not do that, if this was what it got him. He preferred being a lame brain.

But the words stuck in his throat. He… wasn't ready yet. Saying the words now would make them real, and he feared that, more than almost anything. But if she asked him to, he would. He had no defense against her, hadn't for a while. The only option left to him was to ask. "You know why, Gwen. Please," he whispered, averting his eyes and burying his face in his knees. "Don't make me say it. Not yet."

* * *

Gwen closed her eyes and let the words sink in. She'd never tell Ben, but him being afraid, genuinely afraid, of anything, felt wrong to her. He was by far the bravest person she knew, watch or no watch. And he was right, she knew all the fears he refused to utter. She'd held him when he dreamed of her dying. She saw him check the watch with desperate frequency. She knew what he feared, even when he couldn't say it.

She could press him, she knew. He'd cave. But it would only be for the sake of making him face it, and that… she couldn't force that. No matter how mad she was. Exhaling, she let her anger fade. She'd said her piece, now she had to help him.

"If it bothers you, we get rid of it. You don't need it." His head snapped up, startled at her blunt suggestion. She shrugged. "We can get grandpa to contact Tetrax after he picks us up tomorrow." That had been a pleasant bit of news that aunt Sandra had told them when she came home yesterday: a long weekend to the nearby national park with their grandpa. That was going to be sweet, and they even got monday off for it. "Either Tetrax has the tech to remove it, or he can help us find Azmuth. You get rid of the Omnitrix either way."

Ben swallowed, tilting his head, eyeing the watch strangely. "What if… things come for us anyway? Won't I need the watch to fight them? I can't go hero without it." _I can't protect you without it. _

Gwen shook her head emphatically. "_I_ don't need the watch fight." _Yes you can, idiot. _She raised a hand and let lightning trail up her fingers. "Neither do you." She leaned her head on one palm before reaching over with the other to flick his nose. It twitched with annoyance.

"I've told you before and I'll keep saying it till it sticks: you are a hero." She placed her extended hand on his shoulder till he looked her in the eye. "You're a hero because you're brave. Because you do the right thing even if it's hard. Because you will throw yourself in the line of fire to help someone you don't even like. And you don't need the watch for any of that." She smirked at his sullen silence.

"If I was in trouble," She started, taking silent pleasure in the way he immediately tensed to fight at the suggestion. "would it matter if you had the watch or not?" His response was instantaneous, and gratifying. Ben's expression tightened and his hand shot up to cover the one she had on his shoulder. He shook his head. She smiled.

"You're a hero because you're _you_, not because of some stupid alien gimmick; certainly to me. I can even teach you some magic and karate, if you want." She winked at him, but meant every word. "So, let's get rid of the stupid thing. It's more trouble than its worth." Ben was silent for a moment before he stood and held up the Omnitrix to his face, staring at it ponderously. Probably considering for the first time that he really _could _have his nightmare removed from him.

"Brave huh..." He muttered, silent for long seconds, before he nodded to himself, the frightened hope on his face giving way to angry determination. His eyes snapped to her, expression fierce like she hadn't seen it in ages. It was an expression that always made her feel safe, that promised her he'd take care of whatever mess they were in. This time, it also made her heart skip a beat.

"I'm not getting rid of it." He declared, no fear or hesitation left in him at all, startling her. _Wait… what__?_"You say I'm a hero." He continued. "Well, A hero doesn't run away from a fight. A hero doesn't cower in his bed. A hero doesn't take the easy way out." He grit his teeth, eyes going back to the Omnitrix, glaring at it.

"_I_ am the master of the Omnitrix, not the other way around. I'm going to show this thing who's boss, and everyone who comes for it. I owe that to myself." He leveled his gaze at her again. She was quite sure her jaw had dropped at this point. "And you deserve a hero that lives up to the title, so that's what I'm going to be."

A moment of silence passed between them and Gwen could feel the heat rising from her chest to her face. _Okay, that was just… wow._ When she failed to say anything, Ben's face became a bit apprehensive. "Sooo, am I forgiven?"

She shook herself and stood as well, flicking his nose again, struggling to find her voice. "F-Fine. You are. But no more shutting me out if it gets rough, you hear?" She looked him the eye, finding for the first time in weeks that the intensity of his gaze matched the one she felt in her own. Good. "We do this together, or not at all. Agreed?"

Ben nodded before he smiled at her, slightly shy, but mostly grateful. "Thanks, dweeb."

She smirked at him, confidence returning. He was still her little doofus. "What would you do without me?" She quipped, echoing her words from Xenon. This time, she did catch his response.

"Glad I don't have to find out."

* * *

A/N: To quote Anansi the spider god: "Angry is good. Angry, gets. Shit. Done."

Like I said last chapter, I got legitimate criticism that the parents were going to easy on Max. I hope this chapter showed just how much of a bind the parents are in; like literally having to put their faith in Max despite everything, because there simply aren't _any _good options for them. Don't be too hard on Max lying to her; we all know he had to. And you can bet he is genuinely heartbroken over the state of his grandchildren.

Narratively, this chapter will be a bit of a turning point. Up until now, Ben and Gwen have been passive protagonists, reacting to the active antagonist (their trauma). Henceforth, they're going to be active protagonists. Might sound like a step up, but recall: it is even harder to fight the root of a trauma than to merely fight its symptoms. Hope you liked it!


	9. Chapter 9: Awe

Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10.

A/N: This one's for Mike204, who asked for a chapter of just Ben and Gwen hanging out being cute. Hope you enjoy your weekly serving of diabetes. For those curious: the background music while writing this was 'Just give me a reason', by P!nk and 'High' by Lighthouse Family.

* * *

"Ha! Eat my fist, old man!"

"Oh I'll show you how it's done, whipper snapper!"

Gwen glanced up from where she was reading up on her spells in her bunk, trying to glare but fighting to hold back a grin. Grandpa and Ben were going wild on the new Sumo Slammer game that her mother had brought over for Ben when she'd tagged along with the old man to drop of a bag of essentials for Gwen. It was just as well; she'd been almost desperate enough to borrow the freak's boxers. Yuck.

"_This is great, aunt Nat!" _Ben had beamed, before shyly asking why he was getting it. Her mom had, in a flash or rueful affection, ruffled the boy's hair, much to Gwen's amusement. _"You know why."_ She'd chastised.

That had been hours ago, and now they were at their camping destination; a beautiful lake in the nearby national park. Grandpa always knew the best spots. However, instead of enjoying the great outdoors, it seemed both Ben and Gwen were contend to just soak up the their home away from home again. Gwen had joined gaming for a while before going back to spellwork, leaving the boys to their toys. Grandpa's stifled groan told her he'd lost this round. "One more go!" He demanded and Ben snickered.

"Now who's the masochist?" He teased.

Gwen rolled her eyes before deciding to give up on reading and getting up from the cot, walking over to the booth where they were gaming. They were sitting with their backs to her, and she took the opportunity to take Ben unawares and drape herself over him, leaning her head on his, arms resting on his neck. She felt him tense while, simultaneously, a little vibration coursed through him. It reminded her pleasantly of a purring cat. The distraction did cost him, though, as grandpa mercilessly capitalized on it and knocked Ben's block off, finishing his character off with an ultimate move that was… odd.

"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how we won the battle of Kerok 7 on the Sludgepuppies."

Ben's response was incredulous. "By preforming a back-flip and then whacking the opponent with a whale?"

Their grandfather shrugged. "I guess you had to be there. Anyway," he stood, stretching, old bones popping loudly. "I think I'm going to nap for a bit. You kids behave." He smiled ruefully at the way Gwen was latched onto Ben before walking off to the back of the RV, leaving Ben to shut down the gaming console.

In the ensuing silence, Gwen looked down at her doofus of a cousin, who was momentarily preoccupied with shutting off the console. When he retrieved his hand, though, he caught sight of the Omnitrix and tensed before closing his eyes and exhaling. She could feel his stress in the air, and his heart beat faster, and responded to it by leaning down and nuzzling his hair, draping her arms across his chest. _Pipe down you stupid organ, you're scaring him._ He latched onto them with a soft chuckle and tilted his head up to her, grinning shakily.

"I'm okay, just… overthinking. Still gonna kick it's-" She squeezed him a little, cutting him off.

"No one's asking you to do it in a single day, doofus." She chastised, gently, rolling her eyes. "Pace yourself. You can't start apologizing every time you slip."

Ben opened his mouth to protest, but shut it with a shrug, leaning back into the chair, comfortable in her embrace it seemed. "You're right. Better slow and steady than quick and sloppy, I guess."

Gwen reeled back as if burned, staring at him with shock. Ben turned around, looking slightly hurt, but mostly confused. "You said I was right." She explained, shock leaking into her voice. "Who are you and what have you done to my contrary dumb cousin?" Hurt flickered into playful annoyance.

"Oy! I can be smart. Just not… bookish." He protested, crossing his arms with a pout. Gwen snorted.

"I'm not hearing denial of the identity theft here-"

Ben vaulted over the back of his seat in a blur, coming to stand before her, hand reaching around her to tangle in the hair at the back of her head, right at the base of her skull. That derailed her train of teasing, quite handily. Hex could've walked in and started dancing on the table and she wouldn't have noticed. Ben smirked cockily, green eyes dancing with mirth.

"Would anyone _else_ know that you go limp as a kitten when I do this?"

_Cheeky, insufferable, cute- no. Not cute. Definitely not cute. _She swatted his hand away and leveled a hard look at him, grabbing his collar and hoisting him close to her face. "You. Me. Outside." He paled.

"Uhm… any chance I can talk you out of this?" He asked her, sheepish grin on his face.

She scoffed at him. "Your 'charms' couldn't get you out of me screaming at you, and you're not trying _nearly_ as hard now. No luck, lame brain." She wasn't joking. Ben's attempt to dissuade her from screaming at him two days ago had quickly dissolved into a game of 'who could get Lizzie to implode the hardest with how cute they were being.'

Gwen had thought she'd won that one when she'd crawled into his lap and stolen his last fry at the Burger Shack. She'd put it between her teeth to waggle at at him in triumph. A short lived triumph, for he'd met her challenge by leaning in and eating it, biting it off _just_ shy of her lips. It had her flushing beet red and had sent Lizzie into spasms (Anna had congratulated them on that feat). He'd blushed as well, but smirked cheekily none-the-less, savoring his victory meal, being insufferably smug about it.

That same face was trying its hardest to look cute and innocent enough to let him off the hook. He was lucky that she wasn't planning on a sparring match anyway. Dragging him outside, she let go in order to walk ahead a yard or three ahead before turning back to him. The crisp air made all her senses feel sharper, despite the sunny day. Bellwood might be oddly warm year round, but the rest of the state was feeling autumn's grip. Ben was eyeing her suspiciously.

"Relax, I just want to show you something." He didn't relax a bit. She smirked. "Fine, you paranoid squirt. Check this out." Steadying her stance, she grit her teeth and started summoning all the mana she could muster, her aura becoming visible as a blue flaming cloud around her. Ben crossed his arms, unimpressed.

"What's this, a Dragon Ball rerun?"

Her lips quirked, but she didn't reply. She felt her mana coalesce throughout her body, seeping in from outside through her skin as well as spreading out from where she could feel it thrum in her very bones. _Stabilize, stabilize, suck it in too much and it goes back to the core, push it out too far and you lose it too the air. Focus. Focus… there!_

With a final cry of effort and a flash of light, she felt her mana fall into place, thrumming in every fiber of her being. Opening her eyes, she could see Ben stare at her, open mouthed. Through these eyes, she could also see his own mana glow faintly beneath his skin, a vibrant green that reminded her of his eyes. It flickered like a cheery campfire and the sight brought a smile to her face.

She held her own hand up, inspecting it, satisfied to find it glowing blue. She smirked. _Nailed it. _"Yeah, I'm awesome. No need to say it."

* * *

"That is so _cool_!" Ben exclaimed, ignoring her instruction and not really caring to downplay it either. When Gwen had started gathering mana, he'd inwardly braced himself for a potential lightning bolt to the face. Or a pie out of nowhere.

Instead, he got Gwen, but… cooler. Her entire body was seemingly made of pure blue energy, looking like a skintight full body suit that glowed. Her hair was still the same shape, shining a slightly brighter blue, as if though part of the 'suit'. He could vaguely see her hairclip still. But what really struck him was when she opened her eyes. They flashed brightly for a moment before settling into a duller glow, green orbs at their center. They shone like emeralds.

She dipped into a small bow. "Thank you, thank you. You are too kind." She inspected her hand, seeming to be as intrigued by it as he was, blue fire dancing between her fingertips.

"What does it do?" He asked, mystified. She smirked in response and threw her arm upwards. Ben felt a hard tug on his leg and he tumbled down, heels over head into the dirt. She laughed and he grumbled.

"You know, if you wanted to make me fall for you, you could've just bought me a drink."

"Without Lizzie present to explode over it? That would be a waste. Besides," She smiled coyly, raising her index finger, raising him off the ground with the motion like a puppet on a string, floating. "I think I got you wrapped around my finger already." She used the digit to beckon, and he was pulled forward to hover before her; upside down at that.

Rather than throw a fit about it, he merely crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, just like she always did. He could feel her amusement at the familiar gesture.

"Yeah yeah, you're irresistible; especially when you're quiet. Anyway, casting without chanting. Neat." If Gwen's face was anything to go by, there was more. Even glowing he could read her like a book.

She put him down on his feet and placed her hand on his shoulders and jumped, as if to vault over him- only to stop mid-jump right above him, unbothered by gravity. Gwen hovered upside down as he'd done just a moment ago and grinning down in his face, before she moved her hands from his shoulders to pinch his cheeks and peck him on the forehead.

"Gwen!" He whined as she floated just out of reach of his flaying arms. Her giggle filled he air. _I'll show that little glow-bug… _

Launching to catch her, she evaded to the side and slid past him, booping him on the head. He growled and repeated the process a few more times, each time with her slipping past and tapping him on the head, floating just an inch or so above the ground, always just out of reach. Giggling while at it of course. Cheater.

On his sixth launch, he course corrected just before he leaped, diving towards where he knew she was going to be – _shouldn't dodge to the right every time, dweeb_ –and managed to catch her around the shoulders.

"Ha! Got you!" He cried, latching on and pulling her into a headlock, preparing to give her noogie when he froze, the sensation coming from his arm registering, as well as the heat from where she was pressed up against his shirt.

It didn't feel like a suit. Or like magic. It felt like-

"Gwen!" He cried, jumping away from her and slapping a hand over his eyes. "Put some clothes on!" He squeaked, voice rising several octaves as he flushed deep crimson.

"I'm not naked you dolt!" She cried out, indignant. "I'm made of energy, I don't even _have_ a body in this form! Sorta. It's complicated." She explained; or rather, didn't.

An awkward silence reigned for a minute before Ben dared to lower his hand. He still wasn't going to look at her though, staring instead at the ground before him. His heart rate skyrocketed when he saw two small, glowing blue feet stop right in front of his though, toes brushing the tip of his shoes.

Looking up, he quickly passed over… the rest of her, and settled on her face. It was odd, what with it being blue and the glowing green eyes, but those were so undeniably Gwen's that it seemed less strange the longer he looked. Her expression was miffed, but there was no sign of the blush that would usually be there. Lucky her. Distantly, he wondered what the problem even was; he'd seen her in a swimsuit plenty of times and that hadn't mattered to him. Though, he supposed, back then she was just his dorky cousin.

Much as he was loathe to admit it, she was much more than that nowadays.

"This," she said, gesturing to herself. "is my energy being. According to the spellbook, it's basically my soul. Just… solid." She elaborated, flicking his nose. Ben took a deep breath. Okay. Soul. He could work with that. A soul that looked like it was wearing a skintight bodysuit and felt like it wasn't wearing anything at all. Weird. Very. But-

"Wait, your hairstyle is part of your soul? That's some dedication to fashion, dweeb."

"Figures. Here I am, _literally_ baring my soul, and you make a joke about my hair. Terrible doofus of a boyfriend." She groused, but this was familiar at least. Taking a deep breath, and a step back, he looked her up and down.

_Huh. _He thought, seeing faint shades of pink enter her blue glow. _So she _can_ blush._

Well, if she was going to show off and float around… he smirked at her. "I'll show you something cool too." Steeling himself, he let his mind lock onto the Omnitrix, thinking of Ghostfreak. Feeling the familiar sensation of his cells shifting one by one, the heat of the watch's power washing over him, he allowed himself that old rush of excitement he used to feel whenever he transformed.

It was scary. It was dangerous. But it was_ his._ Not just to fight bad guys. Not just when he didn't really think about it. Always. Settling into the ghostly form, he reveled the sensation of weightlessness as he hovered and couldn't quite contain the joy of feeling _strong_ again. If he'd had tear-ducts in this form, he probably would have cried.

Opening his lone eye, it struck him that Gwen looked slightly different to the Ectonurite gaze. Where she appeared as a solid tone of blue to his human eye, barring her hair and eyes, his current vision revealed sightly more nuance. He could see her energy run just beneath the surface, contained, but stormy, moving rhythmically with every motion she made, roughly following the lines of her musculature. Powerful, controlled... but playful. Gwen in a nutshell.

Rather than be impressed at the master control being on again (Azmuth had been kind enough to trust him with that when he'd fixed the device), she eyed him wearily, mana hissing like a cornered snake.

"It's _you_ this time, right?" She asked slowly. "Because if it's not," She started levitating again, slowly inching towards him. "and something else is hijacking my cousin's body again," her mana flared brightly, eyes lighting up. He could feel electricity in the air around them as twin orbs of lightning gathered in her palms. "I will rip you from him and burn your ghost ass alive." She finished with a hiss.

Part of him was flattered. An inordinately large part of him was strangely mesmerized. Most of him, however, focused on the death threat she'd leveled at him.

"Wow!" He called out, raising his hands defensively, raspy voice hissing through the air. "Bad dweeb, down! It's just me in here. No frying your favorite cousin, please."

She hovered before him for one long second before the lightning faded and the oppressive feeling over her mana lifted. He didn't need to breathe in this form, but he still felt like gasping for breath anyway. Gwen was terrifying under normal circumstances, but like this?

_Yeah. I'd sooner take on Vilgax with nothing but a stick, thank you. Throw in Kevin for good measure._

Recovering, he leveled a challenge at her. "Besides, if you wanna 'burn' me, you first need to catch me." Launching himself up into the air, he made for the clouds, twirling a little in the wind, but confident in his speed, enjoying the feeling of flight for the first time in- too long. Too long by far. A minute later, he reached one of the lone clouds in the sky and turned back around to search for Gwen, his lone eye taking in the majesty of all of the natural park spread out below him. Gwen, strangely, was not amongst that majesty, nor did she seem to be following him.

Narrowing his eye, trying to spot her closer to the ground, he felt something prickle the back of his neck.

"Boo."

With a startled yelp he snaked away and whipped around, coming face to face with a guffawing Gwen, holding her belly while being carried around by the wind like a feather made of light.

"How did you-?! Oh, no _way_!" He hissed, ghostly hands cradling his head.

Gwen motioned as if she was playing an imaginary violin. "If it's any comfort, I'm pretty sure I'm not as fast as XLR8." Taking control of her flight back from the wind, she flew closer to grab both his hands in hers, pulling them away from his head. It _should_ have hurt; she was a being made of light and he was in his Ghostfreak form; it and light didn't get along. Instead of a burning sensation though, her hands felt pleasantly warm, like the rays of the sun on a face chilled by cold.

She grinned comfortingly, if teasingly. He wanted to do the same, and decided that he really had no reason _not_ to. A flash of green turned him back into a grinning Ben, and gravity immediately dragged on him. He pulled her into his free fall with him, descending toward the clear blue lake below shouting with delight, though even he couldn't hear it over the roar of the wind.

Beside him, Gwen looked at him strangely, shaking her head with an amused smile, but he only smiled right back, striking a superman pose. He could see the giggle even if he couldn't hear it. It took them about thirty seconds of falling before they reached ground level, Ben transforming back into Ghostfreak and phasing through the water he crashed in, slowing down under the surface. Gwen did the same, a bright beacon in the water, unaffected by the impact.

Shooting up, they both broke the surface, and she wasted no time to start flying laps around the lake at high speed, running her fingers through the water below her, whooping with joy. He was more than content to follow in her wake, happy to see her cut lose a little... until her form dissipated, seeming to extinguish like a candle and leaving behind regular Gwen, causing her to crash into the water with a loud splash.

Racing over, fear spiking for a brief second, he was relieved when she surfaced with the grumpiest look he had ever seen, wet red hair sticking to her face. His ghostly cackles echoed over the water.

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up." She panted, glaring murderously, looking irritated and tired. He hovered closer to snicker in her face, just as she had done to him when their chase had started. He wasn't going to peck her though. Not as Ghostfreak. Not even he was that cruel.

"Aww, is wittle Gwenny a wittle tiwed?" He teased. Gwen's right eye twitched before she shot out of the water, hand landing briefly on the symbol of the Omnitrix peeking out on his chest, sending some of her mana directly into it. A flash of green later, he was Ben again, and a microsecond after that he hit the water face first.

Surfacing with a gasp, he immediately whirled around to glare at where Gwen was paddling beside him, smirking.

"No," he panted, sending a wave her way. "fair." And another for good measure. He got one in return for that, cold water dousing his head.

"Oh, don't whine, you big baby. It's not like I did it while you were fighting the bad guys." She eyed him thoughtfully, bobbing up and down in the water. "Speaking of which, we really need to get you some combat training if we're going to stick to being heroes. You're a sitting duck in human form right now."

Ignoring the way his heart warmed when she mentioned that _they _were going to keep on being heroes, as well as wrestling down the visceral panic the words brought him, he instead assuaged his wounded pride with mock irritation. "If you think I'm putting on those ridiculous pajamas's, you're even dumber than you look." He deadpanned, splashing her again.

She splashed back, complimentary glare to boot. "It's a gi. And I'm serious. Master control is powerful, don't get me wrong, but if I can disrupt it, so can Charmcaster and Hex. Heck, Vilgax could figure out a way." She sighed, seeming to drop it. "But we can discuss that later. Can you get us back to the shore?"

Ben glanced around and noticed that they were near the middle of the lake, a good hundred yards from any shore. He smirked at her. "Correction: I can get _me_ to the shore. You have fun swimming back!" He was about to transform into Ripjaws to go (and carry her with him anyway, because what hero left a damsel, even one as annoying as her?) when she quickly swam forward and latched on to him. He had to paddle extra hard not to go under.

"Oh no you don't!" She glared in his face, close enough for him to see the droplets of water stuck in her lashes.

"We're gonna sink like this dweeb-! Oh screw it." Ben stopped paddling and sucked in a deep breath, their wet clothing pulling them under easily. The last thing he heard was Gwen's squeak before the faint roar of being underwater filled his ears and cold engulfed them.

Ben opened his eyes to peek at his cousin through the clear lake water. She was glaring at him, mouth closed, holding in her breath. He had to wonder how her eyes could still spit fire under water. Magic?

He grinned back at her. _I regret nothing._ She heard the silent message and sighed, a torrent of bubbles escaping her mouth, tickling his face, before a small pinpoint of light materialized between them, expanding into a bubble that surrounded their heads, down to the base of their neck, pushing water away and allowing them to breathe. They were still sinking slowly though.

"Real smooth, freakazoid." Gwen grumbled. Ben snickered.

"Figured you could use a bath."

"As if I wasn't soaked already!" She snapped, angrily. He felt her mana trail across his skin, agitated. It should be frightening, but it wasn't. It tickled a little, but not unpleasantly, kinda like fingers raking through his hair. _Guess her magic likes me, even when she's pissed. _

Ben was about to reply when her mana accidentally popped the bubble, water rushing back into the vacant space to slap them in the face. They had just enough time to instinctively suck in one last breath of air before they were enclosed again.

The shock did cause them to drift apart a bit, and Ben got a good view of his cousin floating in the water, pinching the bridge of her nose, red hair swishing about her head, the sunlight filtering down from above playing over her features. It occurred to him that, maybe, she wasn't enjoying her magical mishaps as much as he was, and that bothered him. Which was a strange thought for Ben; having fun at her expense had given him life for years. Now, though he still loved to tease her, he wanted her to have fun alongside him. It wasn't _as _fun if it was just him.

Swimming forward to draw level with her again, she opened her eyes, and he could see the annoyance in them. Tired annoyance, though not with him, he thought. Distantly he felt that his lungs were getting uncomfortable with the lack of air, but they still had time, and they hadn't sunk very low.

He reached his arms around her and bumped his forehead against hers gently, noses brushing, closing his eyes. He could feel the tension in her face ease as the creases left her furrowed brow, and didn't need to look to know that she'd closed her eyes as well. Her arms settled around his neck. They were all familiar gestures of comfort, and could admit that he really needed no other reason to give them than the fact that he wanted to at this point. He opened his eyes again to see her staring back, a happy smile on her face, before her green orbs started to drift shut again.

Her hand snaked up to tangle in his hair and his arms tightened around her waist in response. Distantly, Ben wondered if the lack of air was getting to them, but when Gwen tilted her head and leaned in, he decided thinking was overrated. Mirroring the gesture, he met her halfway and captured her lips in his.


	10. Chapter 10: Warmth

Disclaimer: still don't own Ben 10.

A/N: I got this question a few times over the course of the story: how is Reminder related to Alien Force? Answer: it straight-up isn't. I don't have anything against it, I'm just not very familiar with the show because it only aired sporadically in my region. I do like some concepts like the Anodite form. Bit less of a fan of it being an alien thing rather than just magic. But even as I borrow things on a surface level, the only _canon_ this follows is OS, so both Ben and Gwen are 100% human and any and all references to the other shows are superficial until stated otherwise.

* * *

"For the record, I blame you for this." Ben grumbled, huddling deeper into the blankets around him, shivering on the other side of the table.

Gwen didn't object, only diving deeper into her own pile. It didn't help with the cold feeling at all.

"I could've picked you out of the water as Ghostfreak easily, but nooo, you had to go and pop the Omnitrix, landing us both in there."

"I don't really care who ended who up where," grandpa Max interrupted, turning around from where he'd been minding the stove. "but I hope you both learned your lesson about jumping into a freezing lake in _mid-October_. Bellwood might be an oddity of geography, but the surrounding area is getting pretty cold."

Gwen curled up deeper on herself in the booth, chastised and miserable at the rebuke (she missed the venomous glare Ben shot their grandfather for it). She should've known better. She was supposed to be the smart one. She should've gotten Ben to take her out of the water immediately. Instead, she dumped them both in there and was stupid enough to linger and splash water like a bunch of five year olds before they k- _Not finishing that thought._

She did glance at Ben at the memory though, and, finding him looking back, quickly averted her eyes, feeling heat creep up her neck. She was glad she could pass the redness off as having the shivers. Fortunately, she was spared from having to contemplate further when grandpa Max placed a bowl of chicken soup before her. It smelled amazing, but she eyed it suspiciously regardless. She met Ben's gaze across the table again, embarrassment momentarily forgotten in favor of healthy survival instinct, before they turned as one to their grandfather. He chuckled.

"No, there's nothing 'special' about this, aside from that its some darn good chicken soup."

Gwen met Ben's eyes again and a long moment of silence passing between the three, everyone waiting who would take the first bite. Eventually, Gwen sighed, took a spoonful and raised it, as if in toast, to her cousin. He mimicked the gesture with his own spoon, a grimace on his face.

"Those who are about to die," She intoned, inclining her head.

"we salute you." the boy finished, before they simultaneously downed their spoonful. It tasted divine.

Grandpa laughed as Gwen eagerly went for more spoons while Ben all but inhaled the bowl along with the soup. "Good to see that your tumble in the water hasn't affected your appetite." Both Gwen and Ben stilled at the remark, focusing intently on their soup and _not_ on each other. Ben gulped down the rest of his soup quickly and held up the bowl to grandpa with his most adorable pleading expression. It seemed to serve in distracting the old man, as gramps just laughed and stood up to give Ben a refill, knees popping.

"By the way, I meant to ask you two something. I was _planning_ to move the RV into the foothills tomorrow, before moving it to the grasslands for the last day. But I'm not sure if you can handle the chill up there now..." He left the question hanging as he returned with Ben's bowl before going to lean against the kitchen counter. Ben's response was immediate.

"No worries gramps!" He exclaimed, voice only slightly raspy, taking a spoonful of soup. "If it doesn't clear up fast enough, I'll just go Heatblast."

Gwen snorted. "Last time you did that while sick, you froze half the RV."

Ben opened his mouth to protest, but shut it after a second with a blush. Grandpa snickered.

"Anyway," Gwen said. "I think the doofus... isn't _wrong_," Grandpa gasped, slapping a hand over his mouth and striking a cross. She continued with a laugh in her voice as Ben groaned. "we should be fine. We're hardly blubbering from something contagious, other then Ben's chronic cooties-"

"Picking on me, the lot of you." Ben grumbled, turning back to rapidly slurping his soup, being loud just to be annoying.

"-we're just cold." She finished decisively, ignoring him. "Cold, and tired. Warmth and sleep should set us right by morning. We can go for the foothills." She honestly wasn't sure about that. Yes, they weren't exactly sneezing and coughing their lungs up, but there was a definite chill in her chest.

But she didn't want her screw up to mean that they had to change plans this trip, or worse, cut it short. Their time with grandpa was precious enough as it was. Every moment in their home away from home was.

Grandpa Max nodded, seeming to understand what she didn't want to say. He wasn't nearly at adept at reading her as Ben was, but she treasured it anyway. "Alright. To be sure though," he jabbed a thumb in the direction of the back of the Rustbucket. "I've put a little heater in the back, as well as a large mattress. You can sleep there instead of in the bunks, without my snoring keeping you up. And I can start on breakfast and driving without accidentally waking you." Gwen grinned. It was official: Grandpa _rocked_. She also found it funny how he hadn't even bothered to ask if she and Ben were okay with sharing a mattress. She guessed it was kind of a known quantity at this point that any discomfort they had with each other was for show.

Downing the last of her soup as Ben had, Gwen stood on shaky legs and moved to hug the man. Ben joined her a second later. "Thanks grandpa Max!" They intoned, beaming up at him to the best of their ability. It was clearly enough, as for a brief moment the man looked like he was going to cry. He quickly recovered though, reaching to muss up their hair.

"Anything for you two cheeky little brats. Now, off to bed with those tired butts." He grinned at them, a warm affection in his voice that always made her feel cared for. Grandpa had clearly missed their time together just as much as she had.

"You heard him dweeb, off to bed with your butt." Ben snickered, poking his tongue out at her. She rolled her eyes.

"He said _both_ our butts, deaf doofus."

"You've got enough butt for the two of us." Ben scoffed, waving a hand dismissively. Gwen groaned. How Ben could go from being maturely cool to _this, _in the space of a day would forever be beyond her. Not to mention, go back to being bratty and gross after being so kissable- _stop it, Gwen!_

"You too little man." Her grandfather spoke up, eyeing Ben with slight rebuke. Ben held up his hands in surrender.

"Fine, fine. Let's hit the hay, mega dweeb." Walking past her, he grabbed her hand on the way, giving it a squeeze. "No hard feelings?" Gwen felt that the question was entirely about his lame insult.

She squeezed back and let herself by dragged along, ignoring the way the simple touch had her stomach doing flip-flops. "For now_._" Her answer wasn't really about the insult either. Not entirely.

* * *

Watching Ben guide Gwen away with a gentleness that belied everything the boy usually was, Max was surprised to conclude that he wasn't sure if he could read his grandchildren anymore.

When the summer had started, it hadn't been that hard. They were two brats, lovable brats, that could barely stand being around each other and whose default setting towards each other was pricklier than a wet Vulpimancer. Ben just wanted to have fun and goof around, Gwen just wanted to have a more orderly form of fun. Nothing wrong with either, but with their headstrong personalities, they weren't easily reconcilable. That, and annoying the other seemed to give them life.

Then they started fighting aliens together, and while the prickliness never went away, trust had taken a significant place in their dynamic. No matter how mad they could get and for all their petty spats, they always, _always _came through.

And throughout the summer, that had turned into affection, all the more so after they had returned from space. But from there, it had become much more difficult for Max to keep up. Not only was he no longer the only one keeping secrets in his mobile home, the affection had outright skyrocketed from where it had been before, to a point that it left even him flabbergasted.

But so had their _need _for it, so while Max had often quirked a surprised (but happy) brow at them unconsciously huddling up with a book and a game, and outright had to stifle laughter when he caught them in the same bunk on several occasions, he knew _why_ they were like that. He heard them cry out at night. He saw the fear in their eyes in the morning. He'd seen it in the mirror often enough.

Then he'd picked them up this morning, after weeks of not really seeing them, and the dynamic had changed again: they had been _all over_ each other. And not just, he was surprised to note, when they were scared or just absently moving about the RV, but to talk, to quip, to _cuddle_. It made him want to immediately call up their parents and scream 'I told you so!' into the receiver. 'I told you they'd grow on each other!' He smiled to himself.

Probably the cutest moment had been when, while driving a quiet stretch of road, he'd checked the rear-view mirror to see that Gwen had grown slightly uncomfortable with the fading of civilization into a more wooded scenery. His granddaughter had thrown herself down on her cot with a book, trying to take her mind off it. Ben had noticed and immediately walked over and, taking a seat on that same cot, grasped the hair at the base of her head, wordlessly massaging the scalp beneath it, probably assuming Max was focused on the empty road.

Max hadn't known Gwen _could_ purr until that moment, and the was she'd curled into Ben's touch reminded him a lot of a pleased cat. This, he had to admit, went a bit beyond affectionate, into intimate.

It made him understand what Frank had nervously confided in him; that he feared the kids were _too_ close, that he wasn't sure if it would remain innocent for long, given a few years. Max could understand where he was coming from; Frank and Natalie had met when they were thirteen and had never looked back. Gwen was mature for her age, so the leap in logic wasn't that far-fetched. As to Ben…

"_You should hear him, dad. Anytime he talks about her, the way he looks at her, it's like Carl all over again after he'd just met Sandra. For all their bickering, he absolutely _adores_ her." _His son had rubbed the back of his head with a tired smile. _"Honestly, if he wasn't her cousin, I'd be overjoyed that she found a little guy who cares that much about her." _

As much as Max respected his concerns, Natalie's opinion on the matter had been compelling as well. They were kids. It was a phase. It was just some cuddling, and mostly for some pretty clear reasons. They'd grow out of it.

...part of him wanted to believe her. Most of him knew that his grandchildren would never let anything be that simple.

* * *

Gwen breathed in a deep breath of foggy air, and immediately regretted it as she had to stifle a hacking cough. Even through her cheery yellow winter coat, she felt cold. She hissed in frustration and channeled mana into her chest, trying to warm up. It helped a little, even if her illness in general still made her magic do random stuff. Like turn a stone into a mouse, or throw out a gust of wind out of nowhere-

"What the- ow!"

Gwen sighed, massaging her temples. "Go away, doofus." She groaned.

Ben eyed her warily and silently picked himself up from the ground, walking up to stand beside her, cautiously, as if approaching a caged animal, just on the edge of her personal space. Silence stretched between them as she ignored him, keeping her gaze fixed on the misty foothills. In the distance, she could make out the shape of a mountain, but it was blurred. She suspected that in high summer this place would be beautiful, the soggy moorland vibrant with flowers and the mountains tickling the endless blue sky.

Now, the sky was gray and the fields a dark, drowned green, shrouded in mist. At least it wasn't raining. For all that, Gwen would be lying if she said it didn't have a sort of haunting beauty.

She felt his fingers gently brush hers, pulling her from her musings. An invitation. She considered turning it down, but instinct won out and she grasped his hand back, the warmth soothing her cold digits. At least Ben wasn't still frozen over from their dive-

She grit her teeth. She wanted to shove the thought to the back of her head but-

"You should come inside." Ben said, thumb brushing a slow circle on the back of her hand. "You look like a squirrel could take you in a fight."

She snorted. "Way to make a girl feel special, idiot." She spat, with far more venom than she felt. It should've sent him off in a huff. Instead, he squeezed her hand tighter. _Nice try._

She wrenched the appendage free and snapped at him. "Will you stop doing that?!" She glared down at his smaller form, getting up in his face. "Can you please stop being understanding and cool and start being a gross freakazoid again?! Would make this whole mess a lot easier!"

The little twerp had the gall to _grin_ at her, sheepishly blushing, and Gwen's brain caught up with her mouth. She smacked a hand to her forehead, the motion sending a mild ache through her skull. "Can we please pretend I never said that?"

Ben snickered. "Not a chance. But sure, I'll stop if _you_ stop being sweet and awesome and go back to being an insufferable cootie queen." Silence met his response, and Gwen felt the heat rush to her face before she yelled in frustration and plopped down on the grass, cradling her head. She didn't need to look to know he mimicked the motion seconds later, sitting down across from her.

Stupid Ben and his stupid sincere cuteness that got them into this mess in the first place- she exhaled loudly, venting all the vexation and confusion she felt into that breath.

Lifting her head slowly, she took a moment to really look at her cousin. Her doofus. There was worry in the lines of his forehead, warm affection in his eyes, a quip dancing in the slight curl of his lips and hopeful tension set into the line of his shoulders. But he wasn't freaking out; not yet at least. And neither was she, not about- _that_. No, she was freaking out because she _should_ be freaking out about that but, for some inane reason, _wasn't_.

She was freaking out because she wanted _more_. Because it had felt _right._

Taking a fortifying breath, she decided to take a page out of Ben's playbook and just grab the bull by the horns. "We kissed." She stated, barely believing it even as she said it. Maybe it was just her imagination, or maybe it had been the lack of oxygen-

He grimaced. "Yeah, we did." Well, so much for denial. Silence reigned before both of them yelled, throwing up their hands.

"This is _so_ messed up!" She cried, hands tangling in her hair.

"I _know_!" Ben groaned back, pressing his palms into his forehead.

"You're the doofus! You have no business being this cute!"

"Right back at you, dweeb!"

"How the heck did this happen?!"

"Why are you asking _me_?! You're the brains of this operation!"

With another yell they dropped their faces into their respective hands. After a long second, she cautiously peeked through her fingers and saw Ben do the same. If her face was half as red as his, it'd match her hair perfectly. The boy was the first to drop his hands and take a fortifying breath. Inwardly, she smiled. Leave it to Ben to find courage, even in moments like these. She was still floundering.

He scooted forward the last bit that separated them, both of them sitting cross-legged, knees brushing. He reached up to take the hands that were hiding her face in his own and pull them away slowly. Her gaze followed their hands instead of meeting his eyes, looking at them for what felt like hours before she found her voice.

"This was supposed to be for _comfort_." She muttered, her confusion manifesting in a feeling of utter misery, as it always did when something just didn't quite make sense, when things became too much. Normally, Ben would see her through it, but he was kind of part of the problem. She felt tears well in her eyes as a result and made no effort to stop them from coming. "The couple thing was supposed to be a _joke_. It wasn't supposed to- it wasn't supposed to-" She broke off, biting back a sob that threatened to tear from her throat. Instead, she got another coughing fit for her trouble, making her feel all the more wrecked.

Ben leaned forward to wrap his arms around her, running soothing circles on her back as she rode out the fit and caught her breath. When she had, he pulled back, and she saw all the confusion she felt flash in his green orbs. He was as out of his depth as she was-

The confusion gave way to determination and he leaned in again, bumping his forehead against hers, tips of their noses brushing, placing steadying hands on her shoulders. She cllowed herself to suck in the familiar gesture of comfort, of safety, tangling her own hands in his green jacket, eyes drifting shut. This still felt normal.

He sucked in a breath, and she _felt _him opening his eyes, so she did the same, meeting his gaze. "I know it's weird," he started, haltingly. "trust me, I do. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it, trying to find out what changed, and when. But-" he licked his lips before soldiering on, looking flushed. "-what I _do_ know is that between aliens, magic, _being _aliens and magic, _this-" _He gestured between the two of them. "-this is normal in comparison. It's completely nuts, but we'll figure it out. It's only a problem if we make it one, and I'm not going to." He smiled encouragingly, if shakily, and his warmth was infectious.

She wanted to snort with laughter. Of course Ben would manage to make this sound like it was no big deal- "Wait… does that mean that you're _okay_ with this?" She asked, words finally sinking in. Ben's face flushed crimson slowly, but he nodded, not quite meeting her eyes.

That was… wow.

"And you want to… continue this?" She clarified, tentatively, throat dry and her heart beating quickly. Because that's what it sounded like, and while a large part of her was screaming that this was wrong on so many levels-

He blew out a breath, eyes darting to the sky in thought, before he nodded to himself, smiling an unbearably adorable shy smile at her, radiating warmth. "Yes and yes. In that order."

-a much larger part just wanted to bask in his warmth and call it hers. He held up a hand. "I-If you want to, of course! We can just pretend it never happened if you prefer. I mean, yeah it's hardly the weirdest thing in our life, but still pretty weird, and then there's our folks-"

She placed a hand over his mouth, indulgent smile tugging at her lip, and looked at him for a long moment. Instinctively, she wanted to take the out he was offering, while simultaneously wanting to punch him for even suggesting it. He was her gross doofus of a cousin after all. And kissing was supposed to be a thing you did with someone you loved, but… she sighed to herself.

He was on her mind all day. He was easily the most important person in her life. He made her laugh, made her feel safe and she wanted him around. Always. In person, on the phone, she'd take any and all.

And every touch they shared put her on cloud nine, and it was a touch she'd come to crave. If all that wasn't love, it didn't flipping _exist_.

Gwen couldn't help the grin that spread across her face, feeling slightly giddy. "Fine, I'll settle for your dumb butt." It was the first time she truly felt like herself all day. Her expression shifted into a mock glare and she pushed a threatening finger in his face. "But if you break my heart, Tennyson, I will destroy you and everything you love." He _giggled_ at her threat, of all things, before playfully nipping the extended digit. It sent a spike of heat up her arm.

"That would include _you_, freak, so not the best plan."

Gwen felt her heart stop as her breath caught in her throat, eyes going wide as saucers. _Did he just…? _

She waited for him to start stammering. To back-paddle. To realize he'd misspoken. He didn't. Instead he bashfully stared off into the middle distance, the mother of all blushes on his face, rubbing the back of his head. At her stunned silence, his face fell a little and he stood, smiling ruefully. "Anyway," he started, too quickly. "best get back inside. It's cold out here. You coming?" He didn't wait for her reply, turning away to start walking back to the distant Rustbucket, a vague speck in the fog.

She shot up to wrap her arms around him from behind, burying her face in his hair. He stilled. She could feel his heart race a mile a minute and he shivered slightly as she exhaled on his neck; a shiver that she knew had nothing to do with fear. Her lips worked soundlessly for a moment before she found her voice. "I love you too, lame brain."

Ben turned his head to look over his shoulder, meeting her steady gaze. "You don't have to say it just because I did, dweeb. It's fine-"

She cut him off with a sound of irritation and spun the boy around, meeting his startled gaze with her peeved one. She grabbed his head and pulled him towards her, kissing him firmly. He made a surprised noise but quickly melted into the kiss, his own hands coming up to rest around her waist.

Their first kiss had been impulsive and sloppy. This one started the same, but quickly developed into something altogether more enjoyable. If Gwen had had any doubts about whether or not she wanted this, they were dispelled in that moment. Ben was right, again: they could figure this out. It didn't change anything; they'd still cuddle, they'd still hang out, they'd still take care of each other and they'd still be the best team in the universe. That was just 'hanging with the Tennyson's 101', it was a fact of life. They didn't need _this_ to define _them_.

But this took all that and made it _better_.

Pulling apart, she felt slightly lightheaded, and Ben gave a new meaning to the whole 'legs turning to jelly' thing when his gave out from under him and he fell on his butt, looking dazed. Shaking her own head the get it out of the clouds, she looked down at her doofus, snickering at the way he tentatively pressed his fingers to his lips with a dreamy expression. Not that she was much better off.

She cleared her throat and crossed her arms, giving him a stern look. "Well then. Are we clear now?" Ouch, that had sounded _way_ more commanding in her head than the nervous little whisper that came out of her mouth. Ben seemed not to notice though, merely nodding, still looking thoroughly befuddled.

"Crystal." He whispered.

"Good." She walked past him, feeling very giddy and better than she had all day. And definitely not as cold anymore. Still... "I'm going back to the Rustbucket and make a blanket fort." She tossed over her shoulder before grinning to herself. "Probably room for two." She sang.

She heard Ben scramble to his feet behind her and smirked, a smirk that turned into a delighted squeal when he tackled her from behind, taking them both to the ground. Seems they weren't going inside just yet.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the ridiculoous size of this chapter. Hope you all enjoyed at least :)

The initial draft of this chapter had them freak out way harder and essentially put things on the back-burner, as in 'if we don't talk about it, it didn't happen' but seeing as I literally had Ben give a speech about how he was not running away from difficult things anymore, I couldn't imagine him back out of anything, even if it was easier.

That's also the reason why Ben, despite being the less mature one, is taking the lead in tackling the romance this chapter, and he's of course also much more of a devil-may-care sort of person anyway. Next chapter is going to advance the recovery plot-line again, because no amount of sweetness is going to make me forget that this is still a fic dedicated to mental health. I needed time to actually read up on therapy so I can write it somewhat realistically, hence all the fluff instead.


	11. Chapter 11: Change

Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10.

A/N: We now return you to your weekly update of 'Is this angst or fluff, will you make up your mind already?!'

To 'guest': I read 'I wanted what I saw that day' and absolutely loved it! The pacing was nice and slow, a solid four years of build-up and oh boy was that pay-off worth it. I'd do the same if I had the patience, but I kinda like having such a 'tight' story, in which thinks take place over the course of a few months. Thanks for the recommendation either way!

**Important A/N after the chapter.**

* * *

Ben bit down on the back of his hand to keep himself from crying out. Not nearly hard enough to draw blood, but still tears prickled his eyes as he fought for breath and convulsed, his other arm waving about uselessly.

"No-!" He gasped, scrunching his eyes shut. He had to get control back, he couldn't give in like this. He had to- he couldn't- with one shuddering gasp, he finally cried out.

"Stop tickling, dweeb!" He giggled, trying in vain to stifle the sounds. Bathed in the morning sunlight coming in through the curtains of the Rustbucket's backroom and sitting astride his legs and waist, Gwen smirked cheekily, her fingers dancing across his sides under his tank top.

"You know the magic word." She sang.

"Never!"

"Wrong word!"

"No- stop- oh for- _please!"_

"Ha!" Gwen cheered triumphantly. "I knew I could make you beg." She halted her ministrations on his sides and breathed a sigh of relief. Instead of withdrawing her hands, she rested kept them where they'd been tickling, lazily trailing her fingers across his skin. He swallowed. This wasn't new. They'd touched like that plenty of times, usually when one of them was too lazy to properly move away. It sure _felt_ new though.

Gwen leaned down to grin in his face, mischief dancing in her eyes. It became easier, every time he saw it, to call that look 'beautiful'.

"You," he panted, reaching up to give her hair a playful tug, "are evil. Pure evil." Gwen snickered, even as worry crept into her eyes.

"You looked like you could use a distraction." She murmured and his smile faltered a little. That much was true. He'd woken up… teetering on the edge again. The sort of edge that, when he fell off it, he'd start looking for a rock. He didn't though, because the reason he had woken in the first place was because Gwen had been awake too, unable to breathe. It had taken them the better part of an hour to get her to normal; he'd been desperate enough on several occasions to go and kick grandpa awake. She'd responded to that desperation by clinging to him, silently asking him not to go.

It had given him the strength he needed to shove his own panic to the back of his head. In the end, it had taken a lot of reassurance and affection to calm her down, but they managed, and when she'd recovered she'd helped him deal with his issues, even if his heart rate still felt too high. He was torn from his musings by Gwen's right hand sliding up from his side to rest over his heart.

A moment of silence passed between them, before she broke it with a soft observation. "Something's up."

He gave her his best grin. It felt painfully fake, even to him. "The roof?" Ah, Gwen's flat stare. He hadn't see it in a day or so, he'd almost started missing it. His grin faltered. He honestly didn't want to talk about feelings and stuff again. Gwen would never let anything be that easy though.

"Together..." She started, pointedly.

"Or not at all. I hear ya, I hear ya." At her penetrating stare, he gave her a sullen glare. "What, _now_? I just woke up, haven't even eaten breakfast yet! You can't expect me to think!"

Gwen's stare was unyielding, conveying that yes, she _absolutely_ did. He grit his teeth. "Slave driver." He muttered, before sighing and averting his eyes. "Fine, fine. I'm just… still trying to figure it all out." He didn't need to elaborate, he knew.

Gwen quirked an eyebrow. "_That's_ what got you upset? You seemed pretty sure of yourself yesterday. And eager to demonstrate it." He felt his face heat. It was still kind of surreal, the kissing bit. Part of him was still wondering what the _hell _he was doing, kissing the dweeb.

Another part was wondering why he hadn't done it much sooner. But that very contradiction was what he was trying to untangle; failing so far.

"Yesterday I kept busy helping you. Now, I don't have that luxury." He muttered.

Gwen snorted. "So glad to know that I my stress can be useful." There was no heat to her words, so he didn't feel attacked. Instead, he averted his gaze, looking at the base of the beds on the side of the room.

"Beats having to deal with my own." He grumbled. Like she made him do now. Darn dweeb.

She hummed in response, leaning back on her haunches and smiling ruefully. Her hand never strayed from his heart though, and the rate of it had calmed down enough for him to truly appreciate the feeling of her palm against his chest. He imagined he could feel her own heart, beating in time with his. He was pretty sure it was just his imagination, but it was a rhythm he could cling to regardless.

"You and your hero complex." Gwen said, a fond shake of her head punctuating the statement. Her bed hair made the gesture even softer than it usually was, all of her hard edges gone in the morning light. "Didn't I tell you you had to sit on that and think about _yourself_ more often?"

He smirked, waggling his eyebrows. It felt shaky, but he thought he could sell it. "Guess I just got you on the brain too much." Aaand yup. That was a blush. Nailed it. She flicked his forehead before sighing, letting the silence stretch, a hesitant expression overtaking her features.

"If it upsets you, we can just pretend it never happened, like you suggested. Or put it off until we _have _figured it out…" She trailed off, obviously not liking the ideas anymore than he did. And he doubted it would work anyway. The genie was out of the bottle, as grandpa would say.

He sat up, pulling a surprised Gwen into his lap, before he leaned in and rested his head in the crook of her neck, lazily draping his arms around her waist. He'd fallen asleep on this very spot so often, he had to resist the urge to close his eyes and just drift off. She'd nuzzled into his neck often enough as well, and this time was no exception. They did it for comfort. For affection. Because they felt like it.

All of those reasons were still there, but there was also… something else. Something that, he was sure, had been there before, but hadn't snapped into focus until- until now. All of those reasons were hopelessly intertwined, and _that_ was the problem.

He exhaled, sagging a bit, and she shuddered slightly, every twitch and every shaky breath sending tingles up his spine. He was pretty sure she was as hyper aware of him as he was of her. She'd noticed the differences too. The motions were all still the same, from the banter to the touches, as were the reasons. Nothing had changed.

_Everything_ had changed.

"If we want to stop this," he knew, "we'd have to stop _all _of it." And he didn't think they could, no more than Gwen could stop herself form unconsciously reaching for his hand or how he couldn't stop himself from leaning on her. He wondered if she'd even noticed that the hand that was not on his chest had reached up to tangle in his hair. They _needed_ that contact, still. He, for one, craved it. He was pretty sure that even one day, without the knowledge that Gwen was there for him… he wouldn't cope. Having to deal with her not being there for most of the past weeks had already been a nightmare. The idea of it never happening like this again?

Just turn on the timer on the Omnitrix and let it blow this time. It'd be kinder to him.

Gwen's hands on him tensed, as did the back beneath his. "So you want to continue this because we need it. Because we _can't _stop it." She concluded. Part of him was happy that she'd immediately caught the unsaid again, but something about the way she said it sounded wrong-

His head snapped up, as did his hands to grab hold of her shoulders. Her expression shifted into shock, guarded shock, as he shook her once. "No!" He said, the soft word feeling like a shout in the quiet room. "No." He repeated, brain working overtime to find the words to make her understand. "I'm _not_ just doing this because I think we have no other choice. This is the _best_ choice."

Gwen was silent for a moment, her guarded expression faltering, but not disappearing. Not yet. "But is it the choice that you, that we, _want, _or just the only choice we have?_" _She asked, and he knew enough about Gwen to know that she was 'playing the adult'. She was having this conversation because she thought they should. She'd be reasonable. She'd be calm. She'd be crying later because, he knew, she was tearing herself up over this very subject too and that was _not_ happening on his watch.

His first instinct was to shout 'of course I want this! Did you miss the kissing bit?!' but he wrestled the impulse down. That had been his gut response yesterday, and he'd already revealed that that had been, in part, bravado for her sake. He needed to do better if he was going to show her that the largest part really was on board with this- ah, so that's why Gwen liked using her brain. It did feel kinda nice when something just clicked.

"It's the other way around." He said, and her expression morphed into slight wonder for a second. That was a good sign, he thought. "It's the only choice _because_ I want this. It feels right."

Because everything had changed. Because _nothing_ had changed.

Gwen cocked her head, gaze intent. He could see the gears turning in her head, faster than he could blink. There was a small smile tugging at her lips though. "You think our… love" He felt his heart do a jump at the word, even if she still spoke it like it was some foreign word that she only half understood the meaning off. He could relate to that. "caused us to be affectionate the way we are, instead of it popping up _because_ of the affection, and we just didn't realize it?" She snickered. "That's almost _romantic_, Ben."

He grinned at her, relieved that she understood. "Thought the moonlight waltz would've tipped you off that I'm a regular Romeo."

She hummed in agreement, still wearing that small smile, but she did eye him critically again. "Not sure if I'm convinced. Its just as likely that we started with the comfort, blundered into this, and only just now noticed. How do we know which came first?"

Ben shrugged. "Chicken and egg story, nerd. We'll never know the answer, and it doesn't really matter for the outcome, right?"

"Actually, considering how evolution works, we_ do_ know which one came first-"

He held up a finger in warning, glaring daggers. "No lectures before breakfast. You already got me thinking_ and_ being sappy. I'm drawing a line."

Gwen's answering grin was sheepish, but that meant she was feeling better. Silence descended on them for a second before she eyed him suspiciously. "You are not just saying this to put me at ease, right?" She asked, to which he could only shake his head.

"No, I mean it. There, I did the brain thing." He said, changing the subject. He was pretty sure he had already fried all of his active brain cells with this conversation alone. "Satisfied, cootie queen?"

She wasn't, not quite. He could tell she had a million questions, most of which he'd never even thought of asking, but her expression melted into a warm smile anyway. Reaching out, she ruffled his hair.

"For now. Who's a good boy, using his brain?" She coed, messing up his hair. He groaned.

"What is it with you girls treating me like a dog? First Kai, now you." It wasn't nearly as bad coming from Gwen though. He treated her like a cat half the time anyway, so it was fair. The redhead snickered.

"You'd look cute on a leash though. Maybe she wasn't all that crazy after all." Gwen asserted, striking a thinking pose. His heart straight up _stopped_ and Ben felt heat rush to his ears. He opened his mouth to argue, to shoot her down, but no sound came out. Gwen smirked like a shark, eyes alight with merriment. "I'm not hearing an objection." She sang and he glared.

_Right, putting an end to this right now, before she gets any ideas._

Flipping them over, he pinned Gwen's arms beside her head, hands on her wrists and loomed over her, smirking, effectively reversing their positions from earlier. He had to give her credit, she smirked right back, looking completely unbothered and relaxed at being captured. _We'll see about that. _He wet his lips and let his gaze drift to hers meaningfully. "You know, good boys get treats."

"Is that so?" Gwen wondered back at him, expression still coy, but he could see the redness creep up her neck.

"Yeah," he said, leaning in to hover right over her face. Her breathe tickled his face, and her pupils were so wide that they nearly drowned out the green of her eyes, the only indication that he was getting to her. Then again, going by the heat he felt creeping up his neck, she got to him just as much. "so where's mine? I did what you asked."

Gwen hummed. "I suppose you did do a passable job of thinking, for a change." She tested his restraining hands, though with very little vigor. "Can't do much like this though, so you're gonna have to come and get your treat."

Ben grinned, leaning down and he tilted her head, eyes drifting shut.

He opened his mouth and licked her face like a good boy.

* * *

Max looked up from where he was scrambling eggs at the sound of Gwen's loud squeal. The only reasons he didn't drop what he was doing was because it was overlaid with Ben's laughter. He smiled to himself, rolling his eyes fondly. _Guess we're back to normal. _Just as well; the kids had been awkward for most of yesterday before becoming ridiculously touchy in the evening. At this point, bickering was the easiest for Max to keep up with.

He saw Gwen dash into the bathroom from the corner of his eye and heard the faucet turning on. Ben followed at a more sedate pace, clutching his stomach as he laughed. Wiping a tear from his eye, he waved at Max.

"Morning grandpa. What's for breakfast?"

Max smiled back. "Morning, troublemaker. Breakfast is scrambled eggs and locusts. Hope you're hungry!" He gave his grandson a sidelong glance. "What did you do to her?"

Ben shuddered. "Please tell me the locusts are dead at least..." Then the boy grinned, innocently. "And I didn't do anything."

Gwen walked out of the bathroom behind Ben, looking like she'd thoroughly washed her face, a finger in her mouth, sucking on it and glaring daggers at the smaller child. Ben didn't notice her, so she snuck up on him, pulled her wet finger out of her mouth and stuck it in his ear with a devilish grin.

Next time Tetrax came to Earth, Max needed to have a stern talk with the Petrosapien for teaching his grandson those swear words, because he was pretty sure the boy hadn't picked gems like 'lazurite speckled onyx humper' up from anyone else.

"Alright alright," he interrupted Ben's swearing (and Gwen's vengeful cackles) with a laugh. "Settle down and sit down, both of you." He placed several plates of food on the table and the kids obediently took a seat next to each other, shoulder to shoulder, even as Ben still grumbled. Max wanted to roll his eyes, wondering if they even noticed that they were way up in each other's personal space again.

Breakfast went about as well as expected (meaning he only had to break up one food fight when Gwen decided to do a 'tactical F-locust strike' on Ben's head), and before long the kids were done and made to get up._ Now or never…_

Max held up his hand to forestall them, and they exchanged a worried glance as they sat back down. He'd rather have led into this naturally, but with the way the kids had been acting up all weekend and the way Gwen had gotten sick, he'd never found a good moment. But today was the last day- they'd start the two hour long drive back to Bellwood in the evening.

And he had made Sandra a promise. He meant to keep it. At their questioning gazes, he opened his mouth, hoping beyond hope that he was gauging them right.

"I know this is… not an easy thing to ask of you, and I'm sorry that I have to." he started, seeing guarded weariness ghost over both their faces. They knew where this was going. Taking a deep breath, he finished. "Will you tell me about what happened when you went with Tetrax?" He paused, before adding the word he knew would push them to actually do it, but hating himself for it anyway. "Please."

Silence met his request and the children paled slightly. He coul understand their apprehension; they'd ignored the elephant in the room for this long precisely because he didn't know if they even _could _talk about it. It was just one more thing their little group of three did not speak of.

But leaving it unspoken had gotten them nowhere. Gwen was only sporadically improving; the shakiness in every other move and the haunted look she'd tried to hide over breakfast told him all he needed to know about the sort of night she'd had.

And Ben… he didn't even have the words to start explaining how bad they'd messed up with Ben. How bad _he _had messed up with Ben.

Gwen was the first to recover, seemingly galvanized by the way Ben seemed to want to huddle in on himself. Max didn't need to look beneath the table to know that they were clutching each other's hands tightly.

"Why do you want to know _now_?" Her voice was weary, but the question was open. Not a denial, either of the fact that there was something amiss or of his request. It gave Max some hope to cling to. They weren't shutting him out... yet.

The old man sighed. "Because we're running out of time. You need to progress in your healing, get out of this limbo."

Gwen's brows furrowed in confusion before her face cleared in understanding. "Our parents put you up to this."

Max almost smiled. Clever girl. "Ben's mother, to be exact, though your parents endorse it." He confessed, before giving her a stern look. "But I don't disagree with them on this one."

Okay, _that _got him a look of betrayal he didn't think he deserved.

"We're _are _healing!" Gwen stressed. "We've been getting better, we can do this on our own-"

"I believe you." Max interrupted her. Both children looked at him like he'd grown a second head. It almost made him want to grin. It was good to know that he could still surprise them. "Given time, I think you _could_ get through this. But-" He hardened his gaze, "-there's only so many times a parent can watch their child shoot back and forth between being normal and fearing for her life-" he said, eyeing Gwen before shifting his gaze to Ben. "-or watch their child try to claw their own hand apart, before a limit is reached. We've reached it."

He waited for them to take in the words. This time, Ben was quickest on the uptake, looking at his grandpa sadly. "If you don't make us talk, they'll try to, won't they?"

Max sighed deeply, but couldn't deny it. "Yes. I've convinced them to give you space as long as I could, but after your relapse, Ben, your parents aren't having it anymore. I can't blame them for that, either." He pinched the bridge of his nose. He hated this. He'd wanted to wait till the kids came to them for help, but they were out of time. "They want you both to seek help, specifically Natalie's."

At Ben's surprised look, Gwen rolled her eyes, elbowing him in the ribs. "She's a psychologist, freakazoid. You knew that." She admonished, though there was no bite to her bark.

Ben grinned at her sheepishly before turning back to Max with a raised brow. "You want us to see a shrink? I thought that was for crazy people."

"Sounds like it'd be perfect for you." Gwen teased, to Ben's groan.

"Come _on _Gwen!" The boy complained, echoing Max's thoughts. Now was not the time to goof around, even if it was only a transparant way for them to buy time to collect themselves- "That one was _obvious_, you can do better than that!" The old man face-palmed.

"No," Max started, drawing their attention back to him. "therapy is not just for crazy people. It's for people that are _hurt_." He eyed them pointedly again, and they had the decency to not deny it.

A moment of silence later, Ben spoke up again. "If they are going to make us talk anyway, why do you want to know? What difference does it make?"

_Million dollar question, that. _"I doubt they _can _make you talk. You're good at keeping secrets overall, even if you've gotten sloppy lately." He paused, expecting an outburst, and wasn't disappointed when twin shouts of denial burst forth. He held up a hand to silence their protests, quirking a sardonic brow at them.

"Fine, fine, in that case, I must've imagined Carl wondering how Ben could go to school with a heavily damaged, bandaged hand and then return that same evening with a completely healed one."

Dead silence followed his statement, before both kids dropped their heads in their hands and groaned. He wanted to snicker. With that level of synchronization, maybe they really _were_ spending too much time together. If they started finishing each other's sentences, he might have to plan another intervention.

"Just some feedback." He added, dryly, before getting back on topic. They must've sensed his changing demeanor, because both children looked up to indicate that he had their attention. "The second reason, and the more important one, is because I want to help you."

He unclasped his hands and sat back, sighing wearily. "At this point, either you guys slip up one too many times, take too long to recover in your parents' eyes, or outright don't recover at all." They flinched at that, and he hated even having to consider the possibility, but it was one they needed to acknowledge. "All that leads to is your story, _our_ story," he stressed, both to remind them that they weren't the only ones with a stake in their secret being revealed, and to remind them that they weren't alone in this, even if they surely felt like it was them against the world. "getting out in a way that you can't choose. Or you remain quiet, and don't get help, but I doubt that's going to make your life easier with everyone pressuring you to seek it." He continued, before tapping the table between them with a finger.

"Right now, you can still control how the story gets told, at what pace, whether you drop it in one go or ease them into it, what parts you ommit or whether you even tell it at all. I want to help you tell that story." He swallowed. "And I want you two to be _whole_ again. I can only do that if you can trust me, like you used to."

He'd expected downcast eyes, perhaps contemplative silence. Protests, maybe, or more wheedling. Instead, both of them dove across the table to hug him tightly, an action he only fully appreciated when he noticed the wetness on his own cheeks.

Darn, he was supposed to be the grown-up here. However, as the kids pulled back, seating themselves on the table directly in front of him, he was strangely relieved to see his eyes weren't the only ones shedding tears. He knew it meant that he'd gotten through to them; finally.

They weren't looking at him anymore though, but at each other. Gwen absently reached for Ben's hand again, and he in turn leaned in to bump foreheads with her. They closed their eyes and inhaled a deep breath, and a shudder ran through them both, before they slowly broke apart.

It was quite obvious to Max that if he hadn't been there, they could've stayed like that for hours. Ben broke the silence that had settled over the three of them.

"Alright," Ben started, hesitantly, before Gwen bumped shoulders with him, smiling encouragingly, and he found the courage to continue with a teasing grin her way. "So, Tetrax and me had just left Earth when the ship's dweeb alarm went off, and guess who we found aboard? You guessed it- No-! Gwen! Stop it! No more tickling-! _Gwen_!"

* * *

A/N: Alright, this chapter kicked my ass across the keyboard several times over. This is the sixth rendition of it, eighth on the second part, and I'm still not very happy about it. I'll do better next time. Would appreciate any and all feedback and I hope you enjoyed it regardless :)

**Big announcement thingy:** I'm taking a break from Reminder for, get this, a week. Meaning that the next update will be around the tenth of May. This is not because I'm tired of the story, fandom, or anything like that, far from it. This is by far my favorite story to write atm, I'm just having a hard time wrestling it under control, which means that the pressure to consistently update is pretty high. The result is me putting out sub-par chapters like this. I want to take my time with the next one and, with luck, get started on the one after that so that I can take the heat off a little. Playing the odds will still be updated though; that story is way easier to write because it's not as complicated as Reminder has become. And no worries, this won't become a regular problem. Hope to see you all again then :)


	12. Chapter 12: Uncontrollable

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10.

* * *

"How about this one, mom?"

Natalie glanced up from where she was reading to eye her daughter's choice in costume. The witch hat was absolutely adorable, that much she would admit, with its wide brim dwarfing her head, but the equally black robes were too large on her.

"I love the hat, but aren't the robes too big? They make you look small."

Gwen only snickered, adjusting the hat in the mirror. "Ben will love that; creates the illusion of me being as short as he is."

Natalie rolled her eyes, smiling at the same time. One track mind, as ever. The kids had returned from her trip to the National Park on Monday evening, and as all the adults had agreed that the kids had been separated too abruptly after their previous trip, it was decided that Ben could stay over at their place before going back to his own house on Saturday, today after dinner. Natalie was glad for the decision, even if she was slightly hesitant about indulging their interdependence. Ben had gotten by quite well, to everyone's surprise. A large part of that had to do, Gwen had explained, with the fact that Ben had two friends at school who seemed to understand something was up and helped him through the day.

Gwen, on the other hand, struggled this week of school. But whenever she came home, Ben was either already there or would soon be. It never quite lost its appeal, the way her daughter would freeze the second she saw the boy, how her shoulders would relax, how her eyes would warm and her face light up. It was still strange, as for most of their lives, Natalie had only ever seen them bicker and fight.

Ben was much the same as Gwen though, always seeming to come a little more alive when he heard the front door open. He didn't jump up, or even move at all to acknowledge Gwen entering the house until she actually entered the room, but there was a clear air of anticipation emanating from him every time. And the second she came into view, even if he didn't even look up, Natalie could _feel _his attention shift completely from whatever he was doing onto Gwen.

As adorable as it was, it watered the seed Frank had planted in her mind, even if she still believed that it was a phase and it was all quite clearly connected to their trauma. They relied on each other, and that reliance manifested in affection. No real mystery. With treatment, that reliance would lessen, and, theoretically, so would the need for constantly being around each other. They could deal with any small crush after that, if it even was a thing at all that point. The treatment came first.

Natalie hummed to herself, flipping a page in her book. Treatment. They'd _asked_ for treatment. Max had privately confirmed upon returning that they were open to it (and by the way Sandra had called later to gush about the news, it was fair to say that her relationship with Max was _much_ improved by him keeping his promise), but until they'd asked her directly two days ago, she hadn't really dared to hope.

She did have some pretty obvious misgivings though, not least of which was the plain simple fact that she was related to her patients. Bias, shying away from uncomfortable truths, the distance required for a psychologist to be effective, all of them were on shaky footing. But it had been a requirement the children had insisted on when they brought it up: they'd talk to Natalie. No one else. She could, they told her, share things with their grandfather. No one else.

Given their legendary stubbornness as well as not wishing to waste this chance, she'd accepted, as had the other adults. Natalie smiled ruefully as she remembered that. Five grown-ups taking cues from two children because they were desperate to help said children. Maybe this whole family needed to get therapy; this was _screaming__ '_dysfunctional.'

She was pulled from her musings by a buzzing sound coming from Gwen, who pulled her right arm into her robes, rifling about with her tongue poking out at the corner of her mouth before she pulled out her phone with a sound of triumph, answering. "Hey Lizze, what's up?"

Natalie smiled in spite of Gwen's less than flattering antics. That was another thing that had changed; Ben's little friends had apparently taken such a shine to Gwen that they'd pressured the boy into giving them her number when he'd returned to school. The result had been frequent phone calls between the four children over the most inane things. It warmed her heart as a mother though, as Gwen had always had difficulties making friends. Now she had two more, one of which was throwing a Halloween party that they were shopping for, next weekend.

"Am I wearing a hat? Yes, why-"

"Surprise!"

From between the clothing racks, a brown haired girl jumped out, cheerfully glomping Gwen, picking her up as she did. Gwen squeaked in surprise. "Lizzie! Personal space! We talked about this last week!"

"I forgot!" The girl informed Gwen cheerily, not a hint of remorse in her as she squeezed her daughter. Natalie was reminded of Ben in that moment, and had to hide a grin behind her hand. Then the girl turned to the woman, and her already large brown eyes become positively huge as her jaw dropped. _Wonder what that's about. Didn't anyone teach her that it's rude to stare?_

Gwen sheepishly untangled herself from the now slack grip. "Lizzie, mom. Mom, Lizzie." She introduced shortly. Natalie had figured as much, but it was still nice to have it confirmed. Finally, a face to match the name-

"She's beautiful!" The little girl breathed out, before turning to Gwen beaming. "And you look just like her!" She gasped, clapping her hands excitedly. "You're going to be so pretty Gwen! Oh, Ben is so-"

"Not here! He's so not here!" Gwen cut her off, slapping a hand over the girl's mouth, slightly pale. The girl just kept talking, seeming not to care that she was unintelligible. If anything, it spurred her on, gesticulating enthusiastically with every muffled word she said. Natalie couldn't quite contain a laugh at the sight. Perhaps it was her exposure to Ben, but she'd found that her tolerance for goofing around was increasing by the day.

"Thanks, Lizzie. You're very cute yourself." Natalie returned the compliment. It was true anyway, the girl was a little bundle of fluff. Gwen shot her a look before sighing, removing her hand from Lizzie's mouth.

"-and then the unicorn said 'that's no moon!' and- oh, thank you Mrs…?"

"I'm taking her for a walk!" Gwen announced abruptly, red-faced, before quickly dragging the smaller girl away. Natalie just shook her head and flipped her magazine open again, sinking back in the chair near the dressing rooms. She'd think about what happened there when she wasn't tired from rereading a dozen or so psychology books. She had treatment to prepare, after all.

* * *

"Soooo, any reason why I can't meet your mom properly?" Lizzie asked her, smiling confusedly where they stood, hidden between the clothing racks in a quiet corner of the costume store. Gwen peeked over them to ensure that her mother hadn't moved before sighing, turning to the other girl in full.

"It's… complicated. My mom doesn't know about me and… Ben." She admitted. It wasn't even a lie. "She wouldn't like it very much." Understatement of the century. She'd probably never see the boy again if they found out. Well, to her parents' knowledge at least. She could fly, for crying out loud; they weren't keeping her down.

Lizzie grinned at her, eyes sparkling. "So, it's _secret_ love?" She breathed, sounding far more excited than she should. Gwen eyed her oddly, before nodding hesitantly. She really should've seen the resulting squeal coming.

"Shhh! Lizzie! Contain yourself!"

"But it's so _romantic_!" It was a miracle how Lizzie could whisper while sounding like she was shouting. "I can't wait to grill Ben over it. And tell him how lucky he's going to be in a few years- I mean, even more than he is now!"

Gwen smirked at that, lazily adjusting her witch hat. She'd seen her future self. She knew _exactly_ how lucky he was going to be… or how lucky she was going to be, for that matter, feeling a flush creep up her face when she recalled Ben Ten-Thousand. Grumpy, but he had been quite the sight. "Ben's not here though is he?" She asked, warily. She wanted to see him, she always did these days, but the last thing she needed was Ben and Lizzie in the same room as her mother-

Her train of thought was derailed by the sensation of lips gently brushing her neck, and she was very, _very _glad they were out of sight of her mother, because of course the doofus had _no _impulse control. Gwen felt her flush deepen as his lips lingered, and in front of her Lizzie turned a similar shade of red before giving them an approving thumbs up. Gwen pulled her hat down to hide her blush... and to hide her grin.

Ben pulled back, and Gwen wasn't entirely sure if he had pulled her against him, or if _she'd_ fallen against him, but he was pressed flush against her back. Given how weak her knees felt… probably a bit of both. Steadying herself, she turned around, coming face to face with a grinning Ben, his visage red and his grin somewhere between insufferably cocky and adorably shy. Darn him. How was she supposed to get mad at his impulsiveness when he looked like _that_?

She crossed her arms and glared, tapping her foot. Ben's grin gained a sheepish quality. "Anna put me up to it." He defended himself. Gwen snorted.

"I'm sure you resisted vigorously." She drawled.

"I did! It was epic." Ben declared, puffing out his chest. Gwen quirked a brow.

"Oh, so kissing my neck is so terrible that you put up 'epic resistance' to the idea?"

"Err..." Ben looked momentarily lost. Behind her, she could _hear _Lizzie gesticulate wildly.

"Its a trap!" The brunette told Ben. "Abort mission! I repeat, abort mission!"

Gwen rolled her eyes, smirking, deciding to let her doofus off the hook. "Why are you here, twerp?"

Ben shrugged, looking relieved at the change of subject. "Anna and Lizzie insisted they help me pick a costume. I keep telling them that I already have one but..."

"You so don't." Anna deadpanned from behind Ben, where she was rifling through the clothes racks, the only one amongst them who stood tall enough to be seen over them, if barely. "And because you're too lazy to get one, you lie to get out of it. We know you, Tennyson. Classmates, remember? For years?"

"They just wont believe me!" Ben complained, to Gwen's loud snort.

"You, lying so you can be lazy? Perish the thought."

Ben gave her a kicked puppy look and she groaned inwardly, spotting the misschievous twinkle in his eyes. That little-he knew exactly what that did to her! She persevered, hoping against hope that her stern glare conveyed nothing. She'd been immune to his face for years and she was _not_ going to let it get the better of her now just because he was fun to cuddle (and if that were the only thing that drew her to him, she might have believed her own lie). He sullenly pouted. "I really do have a costume…" he muttered.

"Really? What is it?" She asked, skeptically.

In response, he leaned in to whisper in her ear, his breath tickling her. "It's a secret." He told her, and she couldn't even focus on what he was actually saying because of the shudder that ran through her. She had expected these things to become less distracting after they'd cleared the air between them about the kiss last weekend.

But it hadn't. It was following the exact same pattern as all the other forms of affection they shared, in that it was quickly becoming uncontrollably normalized, but it so, so wasn't becoming any less distracting. Or addicting. Gwen should probably worry about that more when her brain wasn't somewhere in her stomach.

But even with her brain down there, she could still decide that she needed to balance the scales. She reached up with both hands, gently ghosting her fingers over his jawline, satisfied to watch him shudder, pupils growing huge. She smirked, feeling heat creep up her face as he smiled back, just a bit hesitant. It still hadn't stopped amazing her that they were _doing_ this, nor had it become any less confusing as a feeling, but it was worth it when he looked at her like that. It made her feel like the strongest thing in the universe.

Ben placed one arm around her waist and his other one reached up to gently run his fingers through the hair at the base of her skull. For a moment she forgot where she was altogether; she just focused on the feeling, on him, not in spite of it being Ben that made her feel like this but precisely _because_ it was Ben and he had been making her feel safe and appreciated for weeks now. And loved, she had to conclude retrospectively, even if neither of them had quite acknowledged that until recently.

Behind them, Anna scoffed, pulling her back down to Earth. "Will you two kiss already?"

Gwen wanted to snicker. She probably expected them to 'realize' how entangled they were and jump apart. A week ago, they might have. A lot had happened since then. Ben smirked at her. "You heard the lady." He said, shrugging helplessly. Gwen sighed in response before shooting Anna a mock glare.

"Look what you're making me do-" She was cut off by Ben leaning in to kiss her soundly and she felt her brain scramble a little. Distantly, she heard Lizzie squeak (and she just _knew_ she'd be arguing with the doofus over who got points for that later), but she was too preoccupied by the dual sensation of Ben kissing her and his hand massaging her scalp at the same time to really care. Deepening the kiss, she allowed the world to fall away again, losing herself in this moment-

"Gwen? Everything alright over there?"

-right up until she didn't.

She jumped out of Ben's embrace, poking her head over the racks. "We're fine mom!" She squeaked out. She grinned sheepishly at her mother's quirked eyebrow. "Uhm, would you mind if I went with Lizzie? Please?"

Her mom did not look impressed at being ditched, but just sighed. "Fine, just be sure to be home for dinner."

"Thanks mom! You're the best!" She chirped. Her mother waved her off.

"I know, darling, I know." She distractedly flipped a page in her book.

Gwen grinned before ducking back down and slapping a hand over her mouth. In front of her, Ben looked to the side, face red and eyes wide. What was wrong with her?! With them?! That had been _way _more intense than it had a right to be! And they did it in the middle of a _shop_ of all places, in public! With her mom barely five yards away with two people watching-

"Wow," Anna mused, poking Lizzie with her foot, the other girl having sprawled out on the floor, twitching and foaming at the mouth. "I think you guys broke her."

* * *

"We gotta be more careful." Gwen told her cousin as they trailed behind the other two girls. Or rather, trailed behind Anna who, in a surprising display of strength, was piggybacking Lizzie around the mall. Ostensibly because Lizzie was still 'weak from overexposure to pure cuteness', but Gwen suspected the brunette was just hitching a free ride. Anna didn't seem to mind at all, only shaking her head indulgently at Lizzie whenever the bubbly girl pointed to one thing or another and chattered relentlessly.

Beside her, Ben snorted. "'We'? You started this when you tickled the jaw. You know what that does..."

Gwen sighed. "I know, I'm..." She could do this, she could do this- "sorry." Ben gasped beside her and she swatted him, fighting back a grin. He snickered aaand… that was that. Really, they used to be so good at fighting, now look at them? She was tempted to step on his toes for old times sake. Silence fell for a moment before she felt her fingers weave through his. She wasn't entirely sure who had reached out first. She let the familiarity of the touch sooth her though, and she wasn't going to question that.

"Let's just… _not _do anything that'll set us off while family is around, okay?"

Ben nodded. "Family, other than the obvious." He waggled his eyebrows. "But sure, don't want to get caught by your mom, after all." He shuddered.

"She's actually starting to like you, you know."

"I'm pretty sure she'll like me less when she finds me eating her daughter's face." Ben deadpanned, causing Gwen to snicker at his banal choice of words.

"Classy, Ben. And you mean _if _she finds us."

Ben was silent beside her, probably thinking the same thing that she was: with the way they were getting used to kissing and cuddling as 'normal', she'd probably end up kissing him in front of her parents and only notice she'd done it after the fact. She didn't really know what to do about that though, and was loathe to think about it now. Comfortable silence descended over them before Ben drew her from it with a gentle squeeze of his hand. She turned to him.

"Remember when we gave that concert for grandpa?" He asked her, reminiscing. Gwen grinned.

"The one where you screeched like a chicken? Yeah, doofus, I remember. No amount of therapy will ever make that moment right."

Ben smirked at her. "I sounded amazing and you know it." He asserted, before pointing to the side, eyes alight with merriment. "Wanna dig that hole a little deeper?"

Following his finger, Gwen grinned like a shark before calling out to Anna and Lizzie.

* * *

"I gotta say, I'm impressed." Anna started an hour later, taking a delicate slurp of her soda. Beside her in their booth at the Burger Shack, Lizzie was wolfing down fries, with Ben directly across from her doing the same, though his were drenched in chili saus. Gwen believed it was a challenge of some sort. "I hadn't pegged you for the types to be into karaoke, much less be good at it."

"I phnow wight?!"

"Chew. Swallow. Now, what were you saying, Ben?"

The brunette gave the redhead a grin before excitedly continuing, waving his arms. "I know right?! We rocked!" Across from him, Lizzie nodded enthusiastically.

"You gotta bring that to the school talent show!" She gushed, pointing a fry at Ben for emphasis. Ben smirked, pointing back at her with his own fry, though is eyes were fixed on Gwen. "_Finally_, some positive feedback. Such a nice change of pace."

Gwen blew out a breath, shooting him an annoyed look. "If you like it so much, maybe you should date Lizzie instead." Ben just rolled his eyes, but the _considering _look Lizzie sent the boy made Gwen quirk a brow.

"Hmm... nah. I'm into blondes. Anna had a crush on him last year though, so she might wanna take a swing."

Anna choked on her drink and Gwen felt steam come out of her ears. "What?!"

"Not anymore!" Anna spluttered, waving her hands defensively in the face of Gwen's wrath. "I just thought he was cute, that's all!"

"Ladies, please, there's enough of me to go around-"

Gwen gave him her best fearsome glare. It did precisely nothing because, of course, the twerp's ego was too large right now. A compliment and two girls argueing over him? He was _loving _this, as his lazy smirk indicated.

The stand-off was broken by the sound of Lizzie abruptly reaching the end of her soda. She gave it a forlorn look, before turning that look on the long line she'd have to wait through to get another one. Her puppy eyes found Anna, but she was met with a stony, bored expression.

"No." The blonde informed her, frigid as the North-Pole.

Switching targets, Gwen turned out to be equally immune. Ben, on the other hand, started squirming under her doe eyes. Finding a receptive victim, Lizzie upped the ante with a lip wobble and Ben made a pathetic sound in response. Gwen rolled her eyes.

"Really? I can't get you to take a shower with death threats, but one pouty look from her and you go soft on me?"

Ben shrugged, mood abruptly shifting. "You always try to motivate me with cruelty. I respond better to emotional rewards."

_Is that so? Let's put that to the test. _Gwen leaned into his personal space, folding her hands in front of her face and gave the boy her best pleading look, widening her eyes and putting all the love and appreciation she could muster into her gaze (it still amazed her just how much of both she had to spare for him these days), as well as leaning slightly down so she actually had to look up at him. "Can you get me a strawberry slurpie, Ben? And a soda for Lizzie? Pretty please?"

She had no idea if this would work. She knew she could make Ben melt in a dozen different ways in private, heck, she'd done it over the phone to get him to sing her a lullaby. But in public, his pride might pull him through. Ben squirmed for a moment, resisting as best he could, before heaving a sigh, getting up and walking over to the line, grumbling. Gwen watched him go with a flabbergasted expression.

"_That's_ all it took to get him to do something?" She should've tried kissing him way sooner, if it made him _this_ weak to her charms.

"Don't count your blessings girl," Anna drawled with a smirk. "he's going to throw everything you use right back at you at some point." ...that might be a problem in the future. He could scramble her brain without even _trying_ as it was. Lizzie giggled beside the blonde before rolling her eyes, smiling sweetly.

"I guess I'll go keep him company." She glomped Anna, who did not so much as twitch, only turning her flat stare on the brunette.

"Throwing me to the red wolf alone? Harsh."

Lizzie just squeezed the girl a little harder before turning her puppy eyes on Gwen. "Please mind the face, I like her pretty!"

"Wow. Glad you like me for my personality." Anna responded, tone drier than the Sahara and look flatter than the horizon at sea.

Lizzie grinned with all the emotion that Anna refused to show. "You know it." Before she jumped out of her booth to sneak up on Ben, giving him a noogie when she reached him. Gwen snickered before turning to the purple clad girl across from her. She hadn't met many people who could pull off the color, barring Charmcaster, but Anna nailed it. Even if she did look rather nervous right now. Gwen waved her off.

"Relax. I'm not going to do the whole 'he's mine' thing."

The sigh of relief that came out of Anna was heartening. Clearly, she could still intimidate _someone_ at this table. "That's mighty mature of you."

Gwen shrugged, throwing up her hands. "That's what I do. Also, I'm pretty confident on where I stand with Ben." She didn't exactly feel threatened by the other girl, even if her long blonde hair was beautiful. She knew Ben liked hers better anyway, so even that point was moot."Actually," she started, hesitantly, before soldiering on. "I wanted to thank you for looking after the lame brain."

Anna didn't need any elaboration. She waved Gwen off. "Blame Lizzie, she noticed it before I did." She eyed Gwen with consideration. "...is he alright, though? He often looks..." _Scared_. Gwen finished mentally as the other girl trailed off. She sighed.

"He's… getting better." She gave the blonde a grateful look. "Thanks for keeping an eye on him when I can't." Anna grinned back at her.

"My pleasure," she purred teasingly. "there are worse things to keep an eye on." Gwen scoffed, though she couldn't disagree. Before she could banter back, their conversation was interrupted by a slurpie being pushed in her face.

"Here, nerd queen." She glanced up to see Ben standing over her, eyes averted and blushing, glaring off into the middle-distance. In the corner of her eye, she saw Lizzie seat herself next to Anna again, slurping her soda happily. Anna gave the boy her sassiest look.

"It's funny how half your nicknames for her make her sound like she's got a position of power. I think your subconscious is making a point here."

Beside her, Lizzie nodded cheerily before she started counting on her fingers. "Nerd queen, cootie queen, commander in geek, bore mistress, captain nag-" the both of them were cut off by Ben pointing a threatening finger at them, glaring with such intensity that even Gwen could appreciate the heat rolling off it.

"Don't psychoanalyze me." He growled. "You won't like me when I'm psychoanalyzed."

Gwen wanted to snort._ Now there's a five dollar word. __Guess I'm finally rubbing off on him._ Deciding that she needed to save her new friends, and to see if she could pull this off twice in a row, she reached up to wrap both her hands around the one holding the smoothie, gently prying it out of his fingers. When he turned back to her, their eyes met and she was sure to maintain that contact.

When she'd untangled the smoothie from his fingers, she pulled the hand closer to cradle it to her cheek, close to her mouth. It was quite a riot, the way she could _see _his brain grind to an abrupt halt and the flush spread over his face.

"Thanks doofus," she said, pecking the heel of his hand. "You're my hero." She saw him bite back a groan and knew she'd won this one.

A sound from the other side of the table broke the moment, and they both turned to see that Lizzie had collapsed into Anna's lap, twitching. Anna just glanced down with a distinctly unimpressed expression before fixing both Ben and Gwen with a look of _admiration_, of all things.

"Twice in one day. You guys are _good_."

Gwen smirked, but before she could tease Ben about how she totally got full points for that one, the hand that she was still holding to her face moved, ghosting over her jaw before running through her hair, derailing her thoughts. Her head was guided back to look up at Ben, who had leaned down to close the distance with her, eyes slowly shutting the closer he got, head tilted unmistakably. Gwen wet her lips.

Oh yeah. She knew what was coming alright.

Leaning in, Ben brushed her lips gently, and it felt slightly different than usual. Maybe because, when they were sitting or standing, she had a height advantage on him. Now it was the reverse, and it felt… comfortable. Safe. She wondered what it'd be like after he'd finally hit that growth spurt-

"They're gonna do the tongue thing I think, you might wanna get up for this." They heard Anna mutter, and both Ben and Gwen stopped, eyes flying open, looking at each other with confusion before turning to the girls on the other side of the booth. It was tough going, getting her thoughts in line when she could still feel his heat right next to her face, his breath tickling her eyelashes, but she managed.

"The what now?"

* * *

A/N: *Cracks neck* Aaaah, so good to be back.

You'll have to forgive me for the not very realistic plotpoint of Natalie being the one to treat the kids. I decided long ago that, in the same vein as 'Hurt' did, to have therapy be a part of their recovery. As that's going to be a pretty significant part of the story (even if it isn't necessarily going to be a large one) and I don't want to rely on an OC for that, nor can I ever imagine Ben and Gwen talking to some stranger. It's kind of the reason why I set Nat up as the 'obvious choice' since chapter 4.

Also, sorry for the monstrous word count. I'll try to be more concise next time. Hope you all enjoyed the return of my cute little OC's. If you hate em, you might be in a bit of a rough because they are really handy to keep the ball rolling XD


	13. Chapter 13: Stay

Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10. I do own Anna and Lizzie.

* * *

Turns out the tongue thing was _pretty big deal._

Sitting on the couch beside Ben, her laptop in her lap, Gwen stared at the screen, red faced. She was pretty sure she was positively _glowing_. Judging by the heat rolling of Ben, he wasn't doing much better. She wasn't quite ready to look at him though.

After getting soundly laughed at by Anna and Lizzie, Ben and Gwen had, upon returning to her house, gone in search of what this 'tongue thing' was all about. It was a matter of principle at that point.

In hindsight, is should _really_ have been obvious.

_Eeewl! _Gwen thought, shuddering slightly. _Why would anyone want to do that?! It sounds super gross! It was bad enough when he licked me, why would I want his tongue _in_ my mouth?! Kissing him is weird enough already!_

And great, but that was beside the point. Steeling herself, she glanced over at Ben, expecting to find the same horrified expression on his face. He was blushing, as she already suspected, but… not horrified. Not grossed out. He was looking at the screen intently, scrolling down the page, _reading _(that was a shock in and of itself), before fixing his gaze on her, meeting her eyes before his own slipped to her lips. And stayed there. She felt her heart skip a beat. And then a few more.

She'd seen that look in his eyes too often. She knew _exactly_ what it meant.

"Don't even think about it, Tennyson!" She snapped at him, and darn, that had sounded way more like a squeak than a threat. Ben quickly averted his eyes, nervously clearing his throat.

"I wasn't. Totally wasn't." The boy sounded parched and she felt her own throat dry up as a result, because he sounded positively husky and that spelled so much trouble for her. A moment of silence passed before he caved. "I mean, maybe I was, just a _little_ bit-"

"Ben!"

He held up his hands defensively. "You can't blame me, dweeb!"

"I can and I will, doofus!"

"How bad can it really be if so many people like it-"

"You are _not_ putting your tongue in my mouth!" She yelled, thankful that her parents were taking an evening stroll before dinner. "We're way too young to be doing _anything_ on this page!"

"Uhm, yeah, that's the thing..." Ben grinned, looking extremely sheepish, before pointing to the screen. He was _really_ glowing this time.

Gwen glanced, noticing that Ben had scrolled further down the page earlier when reading. She'd been too flabbergasted to notice where to though. A list of _Erogenous zones…? _Gwen was pretty sure she really shouldn't be reading this, and her parents would probably take her laptop away if they knew she was. She should stop… but the doofus had already read it, and no way was she chickening out when he hadn't.

So she read the first few on the list, noticing quickly that it was moving from north to south on the human body. She slammed the computer shut when they reached waist height, but she was glowing again none-the-less. Beside her, Ben glowed too, but he was smirking. "I take it we're too young for that too?" He asked, cheekily and Gwen hid her face in her hands in mortification, the list running laps in her head. A list of places she darn well _knew_.

_Neck, jaw, ears, sides of the chest, belly, lower back- _Gwen groaned. She hadn't known those things were off limits! She'd just been running with whatever comforted Ben! Same for him! She wanted to groan in frustration at_ another_ thing in her life getting away from her faster than she could keep up. Would it mind slowing down a little?!

Peeking through her fingers, she looked at Ben, and he quickly averted his eyes from her, blushing as well, rubbing the back of his head. Gwen swallowed, thinking, uncaring that he noticed her staring and started squirming a little.

At the beginning of summer, the idea of touching him at all had been repulsive. He was the gross doofus after all. But, over the course of their journey, she'd learned to appreciate it. A pat on the shoulder for a job well done, a teasing hair ruffle, a tickle fight here and there.

A hug when she was overjoyed to see him safe.

And after… after Xenon, she'd learned that there were more ways to give comfort. A hand run through hair, a kiss to the cheek, arms around her that reminded her that not every constricting feeling was a death sentence. As far as they'd come over their journey, before Xenon, those things would've been nigh unthinkable.

As had kissing been. As had been all the affectionate touches they shared as often as they could get away with it. And now she not only accepted them, but craved them. It should've made no sense. It should've been unthinkable. It wasn't. And it all that could become natural, then maybe... just maybe...

She put the laptop away and slowly crawled over to Ben. He tensed, but did not fight her as she tentatively moved to sit astride his lap, snaking her arms around his shoulders. In turn, Ben snaked one arm around her waist while the other rested its hand on her side.

She looked down into his eyes. His pupils were wide and his breathing shallow. She could almost hear his heartbeat, and she knew there was an equal amount of excitement and panic in him; wanting something and being prepared for it were two different things after all. He looked back at her though, and for long moments they just stared at each other. She saw him flush an even deeper crimson and felt the heat creep up her own neck again.

"...do you come here often?" He offered, grinning tentatively.

Gwen swallowed, returning the grin in an effort to fight down her nerves. "Yeah, you might be surprised to learn that I live here."

He snickered before an awkward silence descended on them again. Playing with the hem off her shirt, he hesitantly spoke up again. "Sooo, are we doing this or are we just cuddling…?"

"Don't rush me!" She snapped, embarrassed. A distant part of her brain had to laugh, because charging into a horde of Vilgax's drones was easier than this, and that really, _really_ said a lot about her perspective these days.

"Okay, okay, take it easy, freak." Ben didn't say anything more, but he did move his hands to slip them under her shirt to brush over her waist, one hand moving to the front to trail a lazy circle around her bellybutton with his thumb. She shuddered, dropping her face in his hair.

"Figures. Can't be bothered to read your homework assignments, but the second you can use something against me, you're all over it." She bit her lip, moving her own arms around so she could run one hand through his hair in retaliation. He leaned up to press a lingering kiss against her throat and _that _sent lightning through her brain alright. She could feel him smirk against her skin.

"Consider it a compliment, dweeb. If it involves you, I _immediately_ pay attention."

That level of smugness was a clear signal she needed to take him down a peg before his head exploded from his own ego. She needed that head after all. It had his lips.

Clenching her fist in his hair, she gently, but firmly, pulled him off her throat. In revenge, he raked his nails up her spine. She was glad she was already sitting, because she was pretty sure her legs would have long since given out had she been standing.

The cheeky little doofus was still smirking though. She'd show him what for…

Leaning down, she kissed him, firmly. She wanted to start this off slowly, going with what was familiar first, and he seemed to get that, as he followed her lead. She tilted her head, and he did the same, deepening the kiss and how the _heck_ could the tongue thing be better than this? Probably mass delusion.

She felt him slowly open his mouth a little, lips sliding against hers, and she felt his breath mingle with hers as she did the same. Then, tentatively, she felt his tongue touch the tip of hers as he once again deepened the kiss and this time it wasn't like lightning running through her brain but like a whole _star_ going supernova. She gasped, the sensation shooting through her entire body and she felt him tense beneath her, the hands on her clawing as they clenched and unclenched, trying desperately to draw her as close as possible and she could hear her heart pound in her ears-

In a whirl of movement she found herself flat on her back on the couch, distantly registering a flash of green and then a blur of blue and black that shot through the living room and into the garden, only realizing what was happening when she heard the front door fall shut. She had approximately two seconds before her parents would enter the living room. She quickly grabbed a pillow and threw it over her head, willing her heart-rate to slow down because the _last _thing she needed right now was a panic attack.

"Gwen? You awake?" Her father asked as she heard him approach, before he gently pried the pillow off her face. She mimed sluggishly opening her eyes, blinking up at him.

"Hi." She greeted, slightly breathless. She was hoping he wouldn't notice. Judging by the indulgent smile, he was buying it.

"We told you you shouldn't sleep under the pillow, pumpkin. You always get too hot." Gwen very nearly snorted. Yeah, she knew a thing or two about 'getting too hot' right now…

Hearing the sliding door to the garden move, she turned her head to see Ben walking in, looking red still. The sight of him sent a flash of heat through her, but she ignored it. Or tried to. She wasn't very succesful. Her father gave the boy a questioning glance and Ben grinned sheepishly. "Fell asleep in the sun. Little cooked. Not burned though." He sounded as out of breath as she was, and was looking slightly agitated. She wasn't sure if it was all because of the kiss...

Her father just shook his head at them both. "Survival instincts of a bunch of lemmings, the two of you. Say, Ben, have you packed your bags? Nat's getting started on dinner; we're taking you home after, remember?"

The boy's sheepish grin only widened in response and her father huffed out a laugh. Gwen could catch the slight tension in Ben's frame though, and how the grin didn't reach his eyes. She didn't know if it was because he didn't like being separated from her… or if he was afraid of what might happen when he was alone.

"I'll go do that now, uncle Frank." The boy said, making to move for the stairs, sounding breathless. Gwen stood up as he passed her.

"I'm going to make sure he doesn't forget anything-" she was stopped by her father's hand on her shoulder, though, and as Ben moved up the stairs. The boy didn't even seem to notice that she wasn't following, and that was a big red flag for Gwen. When she turned to her father, she felt ice form in her stomach at his expression, feeling her pulse race for another reason. Fighting down the rising sense of panic, she tried to keep the fear from showing in her expression. There was no way he could know what they'd been doing! And Ben had been _way_ too far into the garden to have jumped off of her in the time it took for her dad to get to the living room (well, to their knowledge at least). It was impossible-

"Is Ben alright?" Her father asked instead, looking worried, and she immediately felt a wave of relief, heart-rate returning to some semblance of normality. Just as well, she was pretty sure it would've… gotten away from her, otherwise. Her father was still talking though, snapping her out of her thoughts. "He looks like a stiff breeze can blow him over, and he's usually not that far away from you, sleeping in a place you aren't always willing to follow." Ah, so her father _had_ noticed something. In any other situation, she would've been impressed. Now, she was mostly just relieved at the plausible cover. And still worried.

"I think he's just nervous about going home." _About me not being there for him. _She finished mentally, and her father nodded, clearly getting the subtext.

"You don't think he'll..." her father glanced pointedly at his left hand, and Gwen shuddered.

"I… don't think so. He- he promised me he wouldn't." She was going to check up him soon, though. If she was this close to the edge, he likely was too. She wanted to get going, she needed to check-

Her father gave her a slightly uncomfortable look. "I hope he'll keep it." He only said, simply. Gwen felt her face morph into a determined glare.

"He better. I'm going to rip the darn thing off him and shove it up his butt if he doesn't."

Her father laughed, releasing her shoulder. "Atta girl. Go make sure he doesn't forget anything." She grinned at him, giving the man a quick hug, because really, it was heartening to know that he cared so much about Ben. It made her feel more secure in her and Ben's decision to seek their help, and she could show her appreciation for that for just a quick second-

She was pulled from her thoughts by a very faint crash upstairs. It didn't have to mean anything, the doofus had probably just dropped his bag and her father didn't seem to think anything of it, as he didn't even flinch.

She still shot out of his arms and up the stairs, finding the guest room quickly enough, rushing in and shutting the door behind her, turning to face her cousin, heart hammering. She felt quite frazzled herself, and not for the fun reasons. Ben had indeed dropped his full bag, clearly having packed hurriedly. He paced in the middle of the room, running a hand through his hair in agitation, every single movement of his small body tense. Gwen felt her stomach clench uncomfortably and her heart stutter nervously. Close to the edge, indeed.

Stepping forward from the door, Ben's head shot up as he noticed her, and he grinned, eyes too wide, waving off her concern with a shaky hand. She could see his breathing speeding up even as he tried to put her at ease. "I'm fine, I'm fine- just, just my heart-rate- it was already up and now I'm overthinking it- it'll go down in a bit, really-" It wasn't. It so obviously wasn't. If anything, with every word he seemed to lose himself further in it until he couldn't muster anymore.

When his knees gave out from under him, he fell on his butt, back pressed against the side of the bed, wasting no time to bury his face in his knees as he started to hyperventilate, hands at his sides, fingers clawing at the carpet. Gwen made to move another step forward, determined despite her own heart not feeling quite right in her chest-

The wind rustled through the leaves and she froze, blood turning to ice.

_No... _She thought with no small amount of despair. _No, no no please not now! Not now! _Her heart-rate spiked, a very distant part of her knowing full well that those very thoughts would only push her further along, but she couldn't stop them. Her breath turned into quick pants and she felt her limbs weakening quickly.

She caught herself on her hands and knees as she fell, breath coming in quick pants, mind desperately trying to break out of her panicked thoughts. She had to figure a way out, had to get to Ben, had to let him know that he was fine, that she was fine, that _they_ were fine, but she couldn't get her breathing or heart to calm. She moved her head to look at him, hoping that the sight of him would be enough to snap her out of it, and found that he had done the same, emerald eyes meeting hers. She did not see reassurance, she did not see him beating his fears.

She saw _guilt_, so much guilt that he could drown in it, _would _drown in it. She did see him fight, though, fight to keep his hands at his sides, fight to keep his promise- his right hand latched onto the Omnitrix and he cradled his left hand to his chest, breaking eye contact to look down miserably at it, the guilt and fear still rolling off him in waves and he was fighting so _hard_ but he couldn't do it alone-

She tried. She tried so hard. Tried to remember the things that gave her comfort, to take her mind to a better place so she could _help- _she couldn't do it. She tried to recall the feeling of his nails trailing along her spine, but it turned into the scraping of sharp teeth in her mind, just as his kisses turned into a wet gullet sucking her down, as his warm embrace into jaws clamping down, inescapable.

Her lips moved soundlessly, words failing in her panic and from her lack of air. Helplessly, she saw his hand inch down to his wrist, could already see his fingers tense, as if to claw, could see the helpless tears roll down his cheeks as he knew he was going to lose this battle and she couldn't help him why could she _never_ help him when he really needed it-

...help... help!

"Ben!" She tried to yell, but all that came out was an airless gasp. Her arms lost their strength and she fell onto her side with a thud, but she couldn't look away. She had to reach him, she couldn't leave him alone, not again-

"Ben!" He heard her this time. "_Help_!" The word echoed in the deafening silence of the room, and she didn't know whether she shouted or whispered it, but the effect was instantaneous, as Ben pulled his hands apart, placing them on the floor beside his hips, gritting his teeth to stifle his gasps, even if his shoulders still shook.

He pushed himself forward and crawled over to her slowly on shaking limbs. It gave her strength, because if _he _was fighting, what excuse did she have? She forced herself up, and when he got to her, she pushed him onto his back and she crawled over him, arms wrapping around him tightly, pinning his arms to his sides. She buried her face in his chest and squeezed, trying to keep his arms where they were and to tell him that she was _not _letting go, she was _not _leaving him alone in this again, and if he had a problem with it, he could fight her for it.

And he fought. Oh, he did. His right arm even wrenched itself free, but instead of using it to try to claw for his other arm or to get her off of him, he wrapped it around her, his one armed hold as tight as hers, and she fought it too, for the same reason he did. Not to escape it, but to test its strength, to reassure herself of the tightness of that hold, to be anchored by that affection. For an arm so small, it was completely immovable.

She used to think that grandpa Max gave the best hugs. They were strong, warm, and all-encompassing; she always felt like the most important thing in the world when he pulled her to his large chest.

Ben's made her feel like she was the only thing in the world at all, everything else falling away for him until there was only her. She hoped, so much, that her own hugs measured up to that.

She didn't know how long they were entwined like that. It couldn't have been that long, as no one had yet come looking for them, but she still felt gutted when she finally relaxed her hold, weakly pushing herself into a sitting position. Ben looked as drained as she felt, like he'd missed a week of sleep in five minutes.

The boy sat up regardless. They were silent for a long moment before they leaned in. He reached up with one hand, cradling her cheek for one tender moment, before sliding it past her ear to tangle in her hair, pulling her in.

She felt his forehead rest against hers, the tips of their noses brushing, breath mingling, and she closed her eyes to the world, shutting out the sight of his tear-stained face, taking in the heat of him against her. The contact sent waves of reassurance through her tiny frame, easing out the shaky feeling in her bones like ironing creases out of fabric. She felt his other arm wrap around her lower back, and she allowed herself to be pulled into his lap. She in turn, reached up to cradle his head, adjusting to her slightly elevated position over him to tilt her head down, maintaining the contact, never opening her eyes.

They breathed in, both of them, the first normal breath they'd had in what felt like forever to her, and as she did she took him in with all her senses. The feel of his touch. The sight of him in her minds eye. The sound of his breathing, of his heartbeat. Even the smell of his cold sweat.

The taste of his lips as she gently brushed them, a kiss nothing like the passionate thing they'd shared downstairs, something that felt so long ago but could barely have been more than fifteen minutes. It was not a kiss for its own sake, but another effort to be as close as possible, and they broke it just as quickly to better press their foreheads together again, the familiarity soothing her far more than even his lips could.

Because yes, kissing the doofus was way better than it had a right to be, but this? This anchoring embrace, this brush of skin that told her, as it had for months, that she was safe, cared for, loved even? This gave her _life_.

She felt herself be tipped back until she was lying on the floor again, Ben moving up to hover over her. She didn't see any of it, but she felt his forehead on hers shift slightly and his breath tickle her lips where before it had been closer to her chin. She still cradled his head in her hands, shaggy hair running through her fingers, and she felt his hands leave her back, hearing them come to rest beside her, supporting him as he lay on her.

She felt him pull back slightly, and her eyes fluttered open to take him in. His eyes were red-rimmed, his skin shiny from the thin layer of cold sweat that covered them both while simultaneously looking drained. His hair, tangled in her fingers, looked even shaggier than usual, dead even by his standards.

Supporting himself on his elbows, his hands clenched beside her head, shaking not under the effort to keep himself aloft, she knew, but from residue adrenaline. Similarly, his jaw shook as his teeth grit and relaxed by intervals. He looked like a wreck. She doubted she was any better off.

But his eyes looked at her with a green fire that she knew was reflected in her own. He'd seen her look at her in so many ways, especially in the last few months. Hate, anger, annoyance, happiness, pride, fondness and lately even desire. Even love. For her touch, for her company, for her. Her cousin was never good at hiding what he felt, nor did he try. She always knew where she stood with Ben.

It was how she knew that this look was none of those. This look was filled with _need_, visceral, unadulterated need. Need like he needed air, like he needed the heartbeat she could hear emanate from him, overlain with her own. Need like she needed _him _as well.

His eye flickered to the bag he'd left abandoned on the floor for the briefest of seconds before turning back to look at her. She felt a twinge of dread, already knowing that he needed to leave, that her parents would come looking for them soon, that he'd have to go after dinner, that she'd have to miss him again, and that they were both going to have a terrible week but they had to-

"You're coming with me." He told her, softly, voice low. Not demanding, not possessive, but certain, knowing what she wanted, at least where it really mattered.

Gwen let that certainty wash over her, reveling in it. "I might, _if_ you can persuade me." She breathed in challenge, equally soft, not caring if it sounded more like a plea than a demand.

His answering smile was so small, shy and gentle that it _hurt_. He leaned down, hovering so close that she was sure he was going to kiss her. Instead, he brushed his forehead against hers again, nuzzling her face, eyes filled with so much adoration that her heart straight up _stopped_. Bringing his lips next to her ear, he nuzzled her again.

"Come stay with me, babe?"

She pulled him away from her ear by his hair and in for a kiss with strained groan, wanting to laugh and cry at the same time because he could have asked her for anything in the entire universe when he was looking at her like that-

And all he'd asked her was to stay.


	14. Chapter 14: Understanding

Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10.

A/N: Reminder has cleared the 200 reviews, favs and follows as of this chapter, which is mind blowing when you consider this was meant to be a oneshot X'D You folks are awesome, can't thank you all enough for the support and for all the kind words that keep pulling me back whereas I would usually have long since moved on to another fandom. You're the best.

A note, as some people sent me PM's because of worry: yes, I do strive to maintain a weekly schedule for this puppy, to the day if I can, but that's a _guideline_ instead of a rule. I'm juggling three stories right now, plus whatever oneshot my brain farts out, so sometimes I'm not going to be able to update as consistently as I'd like. I might even decide to take a week off just because I need a breather.

Don't worry when I do, I have every intention if finishing all my Bwen stories, this one most of all, and you're always free to ask in a review or a PM about what's up, I tend to reply in a few hours depending on which time zone you're from. Hope you enjoy the longest chapter of Reminder so far X'D

* * *

Frank hadn't been surprised when Gwen darted out of his arms and up the stairs. He'd seen the kids like this often enough. Ben probably needed some calming down. He'd immediately saw that Nat had slowed the pace on dinner in the kitchen. She'd noticed it too. Moving to the kitchen, he hugged her from behind, placing a kiss on her neck, feeling her curl into the touch and, with the kids out of the room, lean fully against him.

"What's this, a sudden onset of romance?" She quipped, even as she raised a hand to paw at his jaw.

He smiled against her skin, grabbing the raised hand and bringing it to his lips, delighted to feel a shudder run through her. "With the kids being so adorable, I just feel _inspired_."

His wife rolled her eyes. "This again… Gwen can do better, Frank. And she knows it."

He hummed, but didn't argue, moving instead to sit at the kitchen table as Nat continued with dinner. There was plenty to read lying about on the table, but all he was interested in was watching his wife move. Even after over twenty years together, the way she moved still threw him.

They spend half an hour like that, waiting for the kids, which was again nothing new; these things could run their course in minutes, but the fallout left them broken up for quite a bit longer. And it _always_ left them broken up.

So it hadn't surprised him either that the kids came back downstairs and into the kitchen looking like they'd had three tequilas and an ass whooping.

He wished he could be surprised that they were holding hands. He gave Natalie a pointed look but she ignored it.

The kids didn't seem to pay him much attention either, instead turning as one to where Natalie was leaning against the counter, next to the oven where the lasagna was warming.

Gwen made to speak, lips working soundlessly for a long moment, eyes red-rimmed and shoulders hunched, but Ben cut her off, stepping forward. "Can Gwen come with me?"

Frank smiled, hiding the expression behind his fist, masking his laugh as a cough. Sure, it was phrased as a question, but it really wasn't one if the determined look in the boy's eyes was anything to go by. He let his eyes slip to his beautiful wife, wondering how she would handle this. He knew she wasn't overly fond of their interdependence either, but how to tell them no? Especially when it was clear that _not _indulging it would not end well. The indentations on Ben's wrist spoke volumes of the near miss they'd had.

Natalie shot him a look, very aware of the smile he was hiding, before she quirked a sardonic brow at the children. Ben flinched, but he didn't back down, even as Gwen all but wilted behind him. The woman clucked her tongue. "Do you _really _need her around, or do you just _want_ to?" She asked critically. Ben was unfazed.

"Both." He said, simply. "It's the same thing at this point." And… wow. That was a pretty loaded statement, and all possible interpretations of it were mind boggling. Gwen seemed to be aware of that too, as she shot the small boy a surprised look; a surprised look that also very tender.

He knew that look. It was the look of someone who knew the words were true, but was still pleasantly surprised to have them actually spoken out loud. Natalie still looked at him like that every time he told her that he loved her. She knew he did, every bit of her inside and out, but she still enjoyed hearing it.

Natalie was silent for a moment, shooting him a glance. He shrugged. _They're asking you, beautiful. _Nat snorted and he fought the urge to grin.

"Seeing as tomorrow is Sunday, you can stay another night. Less of a hassle than Gwen going with you." She conceded. Before the kids could so much as grin, she continued. "_But_, you have to do something for me in return, little freeloader."

She knelt down so she was at eye level with the two children, who looked back at her with varying degrees of apprehension. "Tomorrow, we're going to have a talk." She told them, sternly. "I'm going to teach you how to deal with this," she poked a finger in Ben's chest, over his heart. "and you go back to your parents afterwards. They miss you too, you know. Deal?"

Ben looked like he was going to protest, but changed his tune when Gwen, very subtly, squeezed his hand. The boy shot her a look, before sighing. "Alright." Gwen gave him another squeeze and Ben sheepishly added "Thanks, aunt Nat."

Nat pinched the boy's cheek, to his dismay and Gwen's delight. She stood, giving the kids a crooked smile. "I guess you won't want to stay in the guest room, considering..." _Considering the boy had clearly just had an attack there._ Frank finished mentally. Natalie sighed. "I guess you two will have to share, than. Or Ben has to sleep on the floor."

"Floor it is."

"But Gwen!" The boy whined, putting on a puppy eyed look that made Frank wince sympathetically. That would've worked on him, alright.

But Gwen had always had more of her mother in her. She merely quirked an eyebrow. "Suck it up, doofus."

Natalie interrupted their bickering. "Alright alright, save the dramatics for the theater and go get those faces cleaned up before dinner is ready. You look so ragged that it makes me want to cry."

"Actually, that's a perfectly natural response to seeing Ben, mom-"

"I'm giving you a two seconds head start, dweeb."

Gwen grinned before racing up the stairs, Ben hot on her heels, yelling threats. Natalie shook her head, standing. Frank grinned at her. "You're starting to like him." He accused.

Nat scoffed. "I _tolerate _him." He quirked a disbelieving brow at her and she caved a few seconds later. He could say with pride that he was the only man on the planet who could make Natalie Tennyson cave on anything. Though he might have competition from Ben these days. "Fine. I like him, insufferable cheeky little brat that he is. And he's good for Gwen."

Frank quirked his other brow as well and she held up a warning finger. "Good for her _recovery. _Not like _that_. It's. Just. A. Phase. If it's anything at all and you're not just imagining things."

"So that's why you're dropping them in the same bed?" He asked, skeptically. Much as he respected his wife's opinion on most anything, she'd never been very astute in matters of the heart.

"Exactly." She asserted, sauntering over. He gulped. "Because I'm confident it won't matter. You're reading too much into this because you favorite soap got canceled and the romance serial you're reading isn't due another novel for two months."

"Ouch." Not untrue, though. "And here I thought you liked my romantic side."

"Oh, I love it." Natalie leaned over him. "So why don't you stop worrying about some little, probably imagined, crush between two kids just looking for comfort, and give your wife some attention?"

He grinned, standing up to go for a kiss. He didn't agree with her; much as him and Carl had grown up to be different people, they'd been much alike when they were children. He saw a lot of himself in little Ben, and even more of Natalie in Gwen. He could tell, at least as far as Ben was concerned, that there was something there that went well beyond a little crush.

Gwen was harder to read, but he knew she'd been surreptitiously stealing his romance novels for years. There was more of him in her than Natalie was aware of, and if Frank knew anything about his little girl, its that she was a sucker for a good romance under all that sharp intelligence.

And that had always been a Tennyson forte.

* * *

Overall, Natalie thought, Ben was a way more positive influence on Gwen than she'd ever given the boy credit for. Sure, he was loud, crass and distracting in a million different ways, but these days, he also kept her daughter stable. That counted for a lot in Natalie's books.

That the boy also oozed that Tennyson charm that had always made her like her husband's side of the family (despite her parents' misgivings) didn't hurt. She'd always been hard on Sandra and Carl for raising such a rascal, for letting him have his way so often, but she had to admit that it was hard to tell the brat 'no.'

But he'd grown some on the summer trip, that much was obvious. He was calmer than he used to be, and had less trouble focusing. It made him mesh much better with Gwen than he had in the past, even if she still thought Frank was overthinking it when he suspected there was something more going on. Because really, the two had spent a decade hating each other. Their friendship was unlikely already, but romance? Quite unthinkable, even if there was a nagging voice in the back of her head telling her that stranger things had happened.

That voice sounded like Frank and she ignored it. Ben was better than she'd expected of him, but still. There were times like today, when she was pretty sure that every bit of silliness that Gwen had in her was pulled to the surface by the boy. Because, honestly now-

"You're going down, brainiac. Years of gaming have trained this thumb to awesomeness."

"Years of gaming didn't save you from getting your butt handed to you at Sumo Slammer, and it won't save you now!"

-a thumb war? For real?

Behind her, Frank stifled a bout of snickers. "Have fun, honey." He choked out before walking away, leaving the living room occupied by only her and the children. She sighed, approaching the couch. The kids hadn't noticed her; they would often get completely engrossed in whatever they were doing, while at other times being so hyper aware of their surroundings that they were jumpy.

The first usually meant they were relaxed, the latter that a panic attack was imminent or had just happened.

Taking a seat on the other side of the low table between their couch and hers, she leaned back, putting down her notebook. Leaning back, she observed for a moment longer, quirking a surprised eyebrow when Ben leaned _way _into Gwen's personal space to blow in her ear.

A shudder ran through Gwen and she whined. "Ben! That's cheating!"

Ben cheered. "That's victory! Ha!" With a sound of triumph, he pinned Gwen's thumb down.

"No fair! I should get full points for that just because you cheated." Gwen grumbled, glaring darkly at the boy, who immediately poked his tongue out at her.

"No way. I pinned the thumb, I win. Them's da rulez."

Gwen pinched the bridge of her nose. "It's like talking to a brick wall..."

Natalie had to concur. She cleared her throat and both their heads snapped up in surprise.

"Oh, hi mom." Gwen grinned, sheepishly. Ben immediately stiffened, seeming to try to hide in the plush couch pillows.

"Uhm, hey aunt Nat." Natalie wanted to smirk. She liked that Ben was warming up to her, but it was heartening that she could still get him in line.

"If you two are quite done, I think we should begin." The two children nodded, suddenly serious. That was not a new trait for Gwen, but coming from Ben it was a pleasant surprise whenever it reared its head. She guessed Max hadn't spoiled them that much, after all. "I want you to keep in mind that this isn't a therapy session per se. We're mostly going to focus on practical things for when we do start the sessions." At their affirming nods, she raised a finger.

"First off, during our actual sessions, I'll be your therapist first, your family second." She had a feeling that would be easier for Gwen than for Ben, ironically, as her daughter and her had plenty of experience being cool toward each other. They had grown closer lately, but that was hardly enough to overcome years of being used distant. She'd never regretted that; it was the way her parents had done it. Well, hadn't regretted it until recently. "That means that you can tell me anything, _anything,_ and I will not let it let it affect how I treat you. I will not tell anyone, safe Max, as you've told me I could. If that changes, let me know."

She leaned forward, looking at the kids intently. "I need you to understand this. It is unconventional to receive treatment from someone who is related to you in the way that I am, and it can only work if we all agree that there is a clear line where family ends and therapy begins. Can you do that?" Natalie knew she was asking a lot there. Not just in terms of the mental gymnastics required, but because of the trust she was asking of them. The things that these sessions could drag to the surface could be quite jarring, she knew from experience, and to share them with a family member, a mother even in Gwen's case, had to be wrecking... because what if?

What if Natalie didn't hold true to her word? What if she did treat them differently? What if they couldn't keep it straight? What if it affected what they felt comfortable talking about? What if it affected what _she _was comfortable asking about?

"That's fine." Gwen remarked with an almost flippant air. She'd clearly already considered this and made up her mind about it. Natalie smiled at the certainty. Gwen had always been as coolly observant as Natalie had been, but whereas Natalie only felt confident making a move when she knew she could make it work, her daughter had always been better at taking leaps of faith.

Ben on the other hand, looked troubled, as it seemed all the issues with this set-up were just sinking in. And they had never quite gotten along, and a patient really needed to feel comfortable around their therapist…

She smiled her warmest smile at the boy, and he returned it hesitantly. "And you, little man?" She asked, banking on their recent familiarity. It was a long shot, and perhaps one she shouldn't rely on at all, because hadn't they just established that there needed to be a line between where family ended and this began?

But, Natalie considered, some patients needed a more involved treatment. Natalie had often passed those cases along to coworkers in the past. Now, she couldn't. And perhaps she wouldn't need to. Gwen elbowed the small boy.

"Don't worry, doofus. Mom always keep her promises." The small redhead asserted, and Nat would be lying if she said the faith wasn't heartening. "Trust me on this one."

Ben was silent for a moment longer before he closed his eyes, inhaled a deep breath and exhaled a second later. When he opened his eyes again, they were determined. "Alright." He looked Natalie in the eye. "Yes, I can do that Mrs. Tennyson." He replied politely. She gave the boy a thumbs up and he relaxed slightly, grinning at her. Gwen rolled her eyes, but Nat could see the pride in them. She couldn't blame the girl.

The juxtaposition of Ben seeming to need a need a more involved treatment but him trying to follow Gwen's lead in being more distant was one she could resolve in later sessions. They'd figure out which worked best for him down the line.

"The second thing," Natalie started, bringing the conversation back on track. "Is that while I'm providing the treatment, _you_ are taking the lead. You tell what you feel ready to tell, and if that's nothing, then that's fine. But I will ask. I will push you. You can walk away anytime you want, though."

Ben stood from the couch and made as if to leave before Gwen snatched the back of his shirt. The boy grinned sheepishly at the small redhead before sitting down. "Sorry. Had to do it."

Natalie let it slide; she wasn't here to parent him, that wasn't her role right now. But she made a mental note to ask after that humor in a session with just Ben sometime. She was starting to think that that joking disposition was a shield more than anything. "For this conversation, though, I want to talk to you about something you have in common, hence why you are both here for this one." She let that hang in the air for a second, gauging their reaction. They tensed, but didn't back out. Good. "Your feelings of panic." She finished.

Strangely, this seemed to relax them more than anything. Then again, they'd been sitting on this for so long now, having it out in the open could only be relief. "I'm going to tell you about how a panic attack usually works, so you can get a handle on it and use that as a base to learn to fight them." She pulled out a blank sheet of paper and found it amusing how both kids slid off the couch to sit on the floor at the low table between them for a closer look.

She wrote 'bodily sensation' on the paper, angling it so they could read it as well. "Usually, a panic attack has five steps, which cause the attack to become self sustaining. The first is a bodily sensation that gets it going. As far as I cal tell, that's an accelerated heart rate for the both of you."

Ben morosely grabbed his shirt, right over his heart, averting his gaze to the floor. Gwen, though, furrowed her brow, looking down at the paper. Natalie quirked an eyebrow. "Unless there's more…?" She left the question hanging, and Gwen looked up to her, all business. She used to think that that was a sign of Gwen's maturity, and in a way it was, but Ben had told her a few days ago that Gwen did it to hide her feelings.

As a psychologist, she really should've picked up on that faster. Guess the old adage 'you only see what you want to see' held true for her as much as anyone.

"Breathing." Gwen said, clearly, but obviously forcing the words past her lips. "Sometimes, I feel like I can't breathe, no matter how much air I suck in."

Natalie nodded, scribbling the word on the paper. "And you, Ben?"

The boy didn't answer immediately, seeming to mull it over, before he shook his head. "Not a body thing. It's really just the heart for me. But..." He trailed off, hesitant. Gwen poked him in the side and he jumped.

"You're overthinking." She scolded. "That's my job. Stick to your guns, lame brain. Just blurt it out."

Ben glared at her before he sighed and turned to Natalie. "I get it a lot that it's a dream or a memory that starts it. How does that fit into this?"

"That's what we call a 'trigger.'" She explained. "A bodily sensation getting out of hand will often 'trigger' a flashback to whatever is at the root of your panic. However, it is just as possible that the trigger itself causes the bodily sensation. Because the triggers tend to be more obvious, people often try to avoid things that cause them." She gave Gwen a pointed look. "Such as locations that they associate with their trauma," Before shifting her eyes back to Ben. Or, more specifically, his wrist. "or objects."

The kids fell silent at that, so she steamrolled over it in an attempt to snap them out of it. It worked, as they refocused their attention. "But the actual panic attack _always _goes hand in hand with the bodily sensation, whereas it doesn't always involve a flashback." She drew an arrow from the words 'bodily sensation' and at the tip of it scribbled 'triggers' before drawing an arrow from the word back to it, creating a small loop.

"Triggers are not part of the circle as a whole, but it _can_ be part of the first step, though it can come up later as well. We'll get to that in a second. Is this clear or enough for now?"

Ben gave her a thumbs up and in response, she drew another arrow, this one away from 'bodily sensations', scribbling 'attention' at the tip.

"This one is rather simple. Having a bodily sensation is, after all, not a guarantee for an attack. However, when you feel that the sensation is abnormal, you'll focus on it, which often causes the symptom to magnify in your head."

"You mean like-" Ben spoke up before cutting himself off. Nat waved him off.

"You can interrupt me anytime, Ben. Remember, this is about what feels right for _you._"

The boy quirked a smile, probably enjoying the irony of her telling him to indulge in what was, by her normal standards, a bad habit. "You mean like when someone's snoring, and you try not to hear it, but then it only gets louder?" He gave Gwen a sidelong glance and the redhead huffed indignantly.

Natalie hid a smile behind her hand. "Exactly. You feel a bodily sensation getting out of hand, like your breathing being too quick for your taste, and then you get stuck on that. This leads to part three of the circle-"

"How many parts are there in this thing? Ow- Gwen! She said I could ask..."

Natalie took it in stride. "Five. The third is where the symptom gets magnified," She jotted that down as 'sensation increases.' "because you focus on it. Again, straightforward I presume?"

At two small nodding heads, she proceeded. "Next, we get to the 'catastrophic thoughts' part. These vary from person to person. These _can _be related to the trauma, but are often as not inspired by the panic attack itself. They are usually triggers in their own right." She noticed the two children pale and offered them a comforting smile; at least she hoped it was. "Don't worry, I'm not going to ask you to talk about them. You can, if you want to, or ask questions about them, but like I said: this isn't a session." That seemed to relax them a little, even if Gwen stared at the paper with a troubled expression.

"…'catastrophic thoughts' implies that they make sense." Gwen wondered. "What if they aren't?"

The woman gestured for the girl to eleborate. With a nod, she did. "Look, I see where this is going. The next step is panic, which makes the heart and the breath go crazy even more, which feeds into more thoughts. I get that. It's a circle." She took a deep breath. "But it feels like the last two steps are the same, like the triggers are inter-spaced throughout the whole thing, like the catastrophic thoughts are just an incoherent mess of..."

"Fear." Ben finished, looking slightly pale and so, so very small. "Just fear."

Natalie hummed, silently finishing the circle before putting down her pencil and sitting back in her chair, eyeing the kids thoughtfully. She hadn't intended for this conversation to linger on this topic, but if Gwen was willing, and didn't mind Ben being here, she'd indulge the girl. She doubted it would last long.

"Usually," She started. "that fear still has a _reason, _even if it manifests as something that doesn't feel logical. It depends on what you are afraid of."

Gwen's jaw immediately snapped shut and she shook her head. Nat wasn't surprised. It was too soon to discuss that, and perhaps Gwen didn't want to touch upon her fears in front of Ben-

"Dying."

Her head snapped to the small boy, same as Gwen's, but he was looking down at the sheet of paper. They boy sat completely still for a moment before he shook his head. "Can we drop this part for now, please?" He asked, so timid that she barely felt like she was talking to her headstrong nephew anymore.

Natalie was about to respond when Gwen pulled the boy in and bumped foreheads with him, holding him still for long moments. Ben seemed to melt into the touch, exhaling a breath as the tension drained out of him.

"You're fine." Gwen said, closing her eyes, an action Ben mirrored. She tilted her head slightly, and for one heart stopping moment Natalie thought the girl was going to kiss her cousin (and Frank would never let her live that one down) but she spoke again instead. "_I'm_ fine. We're _both_ fine. Okay?"

Ben's eyes scrunched and his jaw clenched, but he nodded, soaking in the words. With a nod of her own, they broke apart. Ben's gaze trailed back to the piece of paper and he sucked in fortifying breaths, using, she noted with pride, the breathing exercises she taught him weeks ago. He looked back up to Natalie, and this time, there was no fear in his eyes. "Alright, so we have this circle thing. What do we _do _with it?"

Natalie recovered as quickly as she could. "Like I said: while the circle is far from perfect; you've already noticed that the steps aren't as straightforward as the drawing suggests. But it is a good way to rationalize what's happening to you both. As to what you actually need to do with it, that, dear boy, is your homework." She couldn't quite contain a smile at the grimace that stole across the boy's face, and Gwen snickered beside him.

"You have _got _to be kidding me. You did say this was voluntary, right? Can I volunteer not to do the homework?"

Natalie snorted. Cheeky. "Afraid not." She deadpanned and Ben groaned before dropping his head on the table. Gwen patted his back sympathetically, a move completely ruined by the giggles escaping from her.

"If the circle is clear to you, I want you figure out how it applies to you. What triggers you, what your catastrophic thoughts are, you name it. And even if you get no further than 'incoherent mess', that's _fine_. It's not about having all the answers, this is about thinking about your panic attacks as something that can be understood and can be beaten."

She gave them both a meaningful look, leaning forward in her seat. "And I need you to understand that: panic attacks are terrible to experience, but they are not complex. They can be understood, and they can be beaten back, even without understanding the underlying trauma fully. So that's what we're going to do." She grinned, faintly sheepish. "We can't expect you to talk about your problems when you're afraid that doing so is going to trigger a panic attack. That's why you didn't tell us about it, right?"

Silence met her question before the kids nodded. Natalie didn't think they were lying when they did so, but a part of her screamed that it wasn't the whole truth either. It was eerily like trying to get something out of Max. But she wouldn't press them; it'd come up in due time. They set the pace. She'd give the treatment.

She sat back again. "Ben's first session is on Wednesday. Gwen's is on Friday. You can tell me what you've learned from your homework, _if_ you feel comfortable telling me that. And if either of you has a question, you can always call. _Always_, even if it's three in the morning."

The kids were silent for another moment before Ben spoke up, grinning. A week ago she would've thought it was genuine, but she could now see that it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Soooo you're not expecting me to actually turn anything in?" He asked, innocently. Judging by Gwen's eyeroll, the girl saw right through him. So did Natalie, for that matter.

"No, Benjamin. I will not have any way to check if you really did anything with this. But-" She gave the boy a stern look. "-you are doing this to get a handle on _your_ problems. In the end, you're the first and last victim of your negligence here." Her eyes shifted pointedly to Gwen. "Well, maybe Gwen too. She does worry about you, after all." They all did, for that matter, but if there was anything that would convince the boy to take this seriously…

She hadn't quite expected Ben's guilt over that thought to be so obvious. For a moment, she thought she'd made a huge miscalculation, but when the child's gaze hardened and he nodded, she felt relief wash over her. She picked up the piece of paper and handed it to him. "In case you need reference material. I can make another one for Gwen later."

Ben snatched the paper, folding it and putting it in his back pocket. Satisfied, Natalie turned to Gwen. "Why don't you go find your father so he can take Ben home?"

Gwen hid her discontent with that well, Natalie had to give it too her. But the forced way she smiled, the stiff way she got up, told her a lot. She wasn't very adept at reading Ben, but Gwen was at least someone she was familiar with, even if she hadn't always interpreted the signals right. Ben looked like he was about to protest, but she raised a hand to forestall him, shooting him a look. His jaw clamped shut, but his fierce look didn't settle. If anything, it became more heated.

When Gwen had left the room, Ben still sat fuming. Natalie considered him for a moment before standing up from her couch and walking over to sit on the couch behind where the boy still remained on the floor. She saw him tense, and she considered that a problem. Because if this was how he'd respond to being alone with her, the sessions were not going to work, and Ben needed them even more than Gwen did.

She had to fix that. And though a part of her was screaming that it was a bad idea, she had just the thing. Silence reigned for a long moment before she spoke. "She's coming back after school tomorrow. After that, you have homework, and so does Gwen. After that, enough is enough."

The boy turned around to look at her in confusion before realization dawned and his face lit up like a sunrise. She had expected some gratitude perhaps, but what she got was the boy launching himself at her, arms wrapping around her waist, head buried in her belly. His muffled words of thanks were still clear though. Pulling back, the boy grinned up at her, enormous green eyes dancing with mirth.

"You're the best!" And what she wouldn't give to record this and play it back to Sandra, just for once. She smiled, ruffling his hair. Yes, Ben was still… odd, by her standards, but he was definitely nice to have around, and she was glad to get to know him better.

"Oh, I see how it is. First you charm my daughter, and now my wife. Does your need for hair ruffles know no bounds, little man?!" Frank's voice cut through the merriment, and Natalie glanced up to see him glare the boy down; fighting a smile while at it though. Or by Gwen standing next to him in the doorway, quirking an amused brow at them. It was like looking in a mirror, really.

Rather than jump off, Ben doubled down by sprawling across her lap, folding his arms behind his head as he laid it down on the armrest. "What can I say, I'm just irresistible." Natalie snorted before pushing him off, causing him to roll onto the floor.

"So glad to see that you're still a Tennyson, at the end of the day." She remarked dryly, rolling her eyes at the sunny grin Ben shot up her from where he lay on the floor. A shadow fell over him though, as Gwen walked up to extend a hand, looking a bit sad.

"C'mon doofus, you gotta get home." Gwen hesitated a bit on the last word. Natalie didn't know why, but she did know that the girl was in for a surprise. Ben let himself be hauled to his feet before he smirked in the redhead's face.

"You mean,_we_ gotta get home. Get packing for the night, freak."

Gwen looked confused for all of half a second before a grin split her face. "You didn't!"

Ben winked at little girl before shooting Natalie an amused look. "Told ya, I'm irresistible." Natalie almost snorted. The brat hadn't even had to ask. But she'd let him have this one. The boy spun Gwen around by her shoulders and started pushing her towards the stairs.

"Ben!" She giggled. "I'm going already!"

"Not fast enough! Move it, slowpoke!"

"I'll see you Wednesday, Ben!" Natalie called after them, amused.

"Yes ma'am!" Was the cheery response before the kids disappeared up the stairs again. Natalie smiled. She had a feeling that that session had just become a lot easier for them both.

* * *

A/N: First time I ever had to break a chapter in two. Otherwise it would have been well over 8000 words. I guess is fine with you guys, but I do like to keep _some consistency_ in terms of chapter lengths, and its less of a trial to spell/grammer check the thing if it's shorter. So if I missed an error somewhere, sorry. Bit of a speech heavy chapter, but, well, that's kind of how therapy works. Obviously, in a _normal _session, it's the patient who does most of the talking, but this was more like an information meeting that had a lot of elements of a regular session. Hope I didn't bore you with it, and if anything was unclear, feel free to ask. If the questions is important enough I'll also answer it in the next chapter for all readers to see.

As to the attitudes of Frank and Nat toward the budding romance; Frank is depicted (in the show) as a father who respects Gwen's choices, even if he disagrees with them. It's why I have him be somewhat more relaxed at the idea, even if he's also the most 'in the know' about it. He's under the impression that its mostly just a one-sided love though, even if he smells the potential for more. It happened to him and Nat, after all.

Natalie, in contrast, is quite indifferent to Gwen's emotional side, or emotional sides in general, and while she acknowledges that there is potential, she can't imagine Gwen settling for Ben. It's probably a phase or a one-sided crush.

Of course both of them have no way of knowing that the kids are way, _way _beyond that, but they have no frame of reference on their newfound friendship other than the stories they and Max tell; and this after watching them hate each other for a decade. Just a little 'this is how I view it', but if you have thoughts on this, I'd love to hear it of course.


	15. Chapter 15: Real

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10.

A/N: Thanks for all the feedback on last chapter folks! I'm glad to hear I didn't bore most of my regular readership to tears XD And as one guest reviewer pointed out; the thing I described is known as the "vicious circle of panic attacks", which is an actual thing psychologists use. So if you're curious, thats your search term. For this chapter, I sort of realized that Ben and Gwen kinda tease each other 'ironically' with the boyfriend girlfriend talk, and that they agreed that the kissing thing is okay, but they never actually agreed that they were dating. Kind of a relevant difference for kids who tend to think of life fitting neatly in boxes.

* * *

Ben smiled lazily, sitting up against the headboard of his bed, relaxing in the morning light filtering in through his curtains. The room was darkened still, but he could easily see everything in it regardless, from his cluttered desk to the overstuffed bookshelves (hey, comics counted as books right?). The room smelled faintly of sleep, even the air seemed to be lazy with the way he could feel it lay on him with, sluggishly circling the room. It was nice, feeling comfortable in his own space for a change.

This bedroom had been the setting for so many of his meltdowns that even on good days, he felt ill at ease sleeping there. Not enough to set him off, no, but it did remind him of all the times he woke up from a nightmare, tangled in the sheets and drowning in the seemingly endless mattress, gasping for breath, heart pounding-

Gwen twitched in his lap, pulling him from his spiral, seeming aware of him even in her sleep, and he latched onto the distraction. His smile returned and he raised a hand to stroke her hair, enjoying the softness of it. His bed still felt too large compared to the RV's bunks, but with Gwen there it was just about right. Even if she was a total blanket hog.

There was a cot next to his bed prepared for her, but it hadn't seen any use. His parents did use it when they didn't trust him to sleep alone. It should've hurt that they didn't trust him to look after himself anymore, as they'd always had, but he couldn't muster the indignation required. Between all the secrets he kept these days and all the slip-ups he'd had, he wouldn't trust him either.

Ben wasn't sure how he felt about that, so he tried not to think about it.

Their newfound concern did have the sucky add on that his dad had removed the lock from his bedroom door, which theoretically meant they could barge right in. Not that he and Gwen were doing anything they couldn't write off as 'normal' right now, but he didn't want to plant any ideas in their head. It hadn't escaped him that his uncle looked at him a little too knowingly, or that aunt Nat was starting to look too. Paranoia had made him just that bit more perceptive, it seemed.

Gwen stirred, but didn't wake, and he allowed himself a moment to just take her in, a luxury he seldom had when she was awake (well, without her making a cheeky comment anyway). There wasn't much to see, with only her head poking out from under the blankets, but it still piqued his interest like little else could. Gwen was usually so severe, in every way. Her smile was sharp, her eyes slanted and mischievous, coolly intelligent and her appearance always crisp, even when she went for casual. Nothing about Gwen Tennyson was disorderly, nothing was soft.

But when she slept, the tension in her body melted away like snow in the sun. Her eyes lost that harsh, observant stare that she never quite seemed to be able to drop. Her hair, too, was released from its fixed style, laying about her head as a small mane of red that reminded him of sunsets in the desert. All in all, it granted Gwen a gentleness that he couldn't get enough of. It made him wonder how he could ever have hated the sight of her in the past. Then again, it hadn't been until he saw her in a dress at Joel's wedding that he could, grudgingly, admit to himself that she was pretty; insofar as seeing Gwendolyn hadn't driven that point home.

Running his hands through her hair, he felt the instant that she became awake, her body tensing ever so slightly, but not nearly to her 'normal' degree. She still refused to move, though, and her eyes remained relaxed and shut. Laying on her side, he got a good view of her lips curling into a small, lazy smile, so out of place on her features, her eyes darting behind her lids. He guessed that 'beautiful' was the only way to describe it, which sounded sappy even in his head. He'd normally keep those thoughts to himself for precisely that reason but...

Trailing a hand over her cheek, he was delighted to see her lean into the touch, like a cat being petted. "Hey there, beautiful."

Gwen froze completely for a long moment, a flush creeping up her neck, before she pulled the covers over her head, not quite fast enough to hide how her smile turned into a grin. He felt heat creep up his own face. It was ridiculous, really. It was just a little flirting, it shouldn't mean that much after all they'd already done, especially after the emotional rollercoaster they went through two days ago. Nothing quite like a simultaneous panic attack to put feelings in perspective. He really hoped he could just give her some flowers next time. Or a fruit basket. Everybody loved those, right?

He snapped from his thoughts when Gwen resurfaced, the crown of her head burrowing into his belly as she laid on her back, looking up at him with eyes that were still sleepy. He'd never gotten the appeal of what people meant by 'bedroom eyes'; it hadn't sounded that interesting to him. Just people looking tired, right? What's so special about that?

On Gwen, they were special. They absolutely were. Ben smirked down at her languid form. She was totally checking him out, so he waggled his eyebrows suggestively, ignoring the pink he could feel on his cheeks. "Like what you see?"

He expected a scoff, an eye roll, an embarrassed aversion of her eyes or perhaps a witty comeback. Instead, she just kept looking at him, seeming unashamed to be caught staring, and he felt his flush deepen. She grabbed the hand that had again moved to stroke her hair (when had he moved it? He couldn't remember) and nuzzled into it, seeming to _purr_. His breath hitched and when she opened her eyes again to look at him, he saw a twinkle of mischief sneak into her gaze.

"I do, cutie."

...okay, Ben had to admit, he could understand Gwen's reasoning for ducking under the covers to hide a little better now, because that had gone straight from his ears to _everywhere,_ filling his entire body with heat as his heart stuttered in a way that had _nothing _to do with fear.

He grinned despite all that, because no way was he letting Gwen win that easily. "So, what's a pretty girl like you doing in place like this?"

She stretched, knocking the covers aside and no, his mouth did not run dry at the sight, thank you, nor was he completely captivated by the sight of her shirt riding up _just _a bit to expose her abdomen. Not. At. _All_. She was his cousin, and that'd be weird.

She gave him a look that told him she'd known exactly where his eyes had been. Darn it. Two to one for Gwen. He was losing this round.

"Oh, you know. Make enough terrible life choices and this is where you end up." She returned, smirking, knowing the score as well.

Terrible life choices, indeed. All of this screamed 'bad idea', and the one ghosting around his head was ten times worse. But Ben had never let that stop him from digging his hole deeper, and going by the warm look the dweeb was giving him, she wasn't stopping either.

"Want to make a few more?" He asked her, teasing grin on his face, even as he felt his hear skip a beat.

"Go on." Gwen purred, rearing up slightly, but he placed a hand on her chest, over her heart, holding her where she was. She gave him a questioning look even as she laid herself back down, probably assuming that his remark had been an invitation to get kissing started and he so, _so _wanted that to be the case because holding her and kissing her was the best thing ever-

But he wanted it to be _more_ than just that.

"Do you wanna go hang out?" He asked, feeling heat creep up his face again. "Just the two of us."

Her questioning look did not abate, if anything she became more confused. After a long second, her face cleared, eyes widening and mouth opening in a silent 'o'.

"You mean... like a _date_?" She asked, hesitantly, her face flushing too. She looked way too kissable right now, but he had to focus.

He swallowed, heart pounding, throat suddenly dry. Million dollar question, right there. They hung out together plenty, it wouldn't have been strange to hang out some more. But a _date_ changed the game.

Because right now, they could still deny this thing between them, even to themselves. It was just kissing. It was just affection. It was just a small crush. It'd disappear when they got better. 'They' existed only in this place somewhere between 'impossible' and 'fact of life'. It was real when they kissed, when they touched, when they managed to find meaningless words to say meaningful things. It was nebulous, and that gave them space to pretend this wasn't happening right in front of their noses. But if they actually went out on a _date-_

They wouldn't be able to pretend anymore. They'd be doing something the way _couples _were supposed to, with no gray area to say otherwise. Yes, you could pin next to all they did on an ongoing need for affection and reassurance… but going out on a date couldn't be pinned on that. They'd be going out of their way for it. He was pretty sure it would be a slippery slope from there, and not one they could crawl back up if they started down it.

Going out on a date with Gwen would make it all real.

Ben could easily read the anticipation and hope in her features, an odd mixture of fear and elation in the turn of her lips. Strange to think that when summer had started, he'd only ever been able to read the most base of emotions on her; primary colors where he could now see a world of shades in between. He took in the softness of her features again, contrasted by the sharp intelligence in her eyes, now very awake.

He grinned and he was sure he did not imagine hearing her breath hitch. It strengthened his resolve.

Yeah, going out on a date with Gwen would make it real, huge, hopelessly complicated and scary- but even if he could barely understand it all himself, if this weekend had shown him anything, it was that this was already so much bigger than they tried to pretend it wasn't. For all he knew, it was already real, and they were _again_ finding out after the fact. It wouldn't be the first time. That had prompted him to think about all this some more ever since their mutual meltdown, with several headaches to show for it. Next time, Gwen could do the complicated thinking. But all that thinking had made him realize something: there was a chance.

A chance that it would fade when they got better. That they wouldn't need it anymore. That they would_ let_ it fade, taking full advantage of the vagueness of it all to just let it slip into the night.

And no way was he letting that happen. _No running from your fears, Tennyson._

"Yup. Wanna go out on a date with this doofus, dweeb?"

* * *

Honestly, Gwen was a little impressed. Not just because Ben had found the guts to ask her out (and boy did that sent a wave of heat through her whenever she thought of it), but because he actually seemed to have put thought into it.

Even as he'd asked her, she'd assumed he meant 'sometime soon when her mom actually let them hang out again', not 'I'm going to needle my mom into calling us in sick at our schools.' Normally, she'd be super pissed that Ben was making her miss school (and faking illness, for that matter) but it was hard to argue when he was looking at her with such intensity.

And the little runt knew it. Cheating, insufferable, little cutie that he was. But she'd always found his determination cool, long before he'd started using it to sweep her off her feet. So really, it wasn't really her being a softy, she was just respecting a good character trait of his.

That was her story and she was sticking to it.

But even as she found herself with an unexpected free Monday, she hadn't counted on anything super special. Spending time together was special enough in its own right, they didn't need much to add to that. Perhaps a movie and hitting up the Burger Shack, some romantic cliche.

She really should have more faith in her doofus by now.

Because as soon as they rounded the corner of her street after walking out the door, Ben had grinned at her and pulled them both out of sight. "Race ya." He told her, before in a flash of green, XLR8 sped off into the distance, leaving Gwen to transform into her energy form as quickly as she could to pursue. She was so focused on him that she didn't even notice when the buildings around her slowly gave way to greenery and finally to hills and forests.

She never lost sight of him though, even if he remained ahead of her. It was how she noticed the second he started slowing down and turned back into himself. She stopped in front of him, levitating, quirking an ethereal brow at him when she took in the woods around them; barren in winter's cold. They were quite a ways off from Bellwood. He grinned again when she turned back, only slightly out of breath.

"You're getting better at that, dweeb."

She smirked, brushing her hair out of her face. "I'm awesome, didn't you know?" She glanced around. "Where even are we?" She rubbed her arms. "Judging by the cold, not Bellwood."

"What, can't you tell? I thought you were supposed to be the smart one." He stepped up, raising both hands to brush the sides of her face. She scoffed.

"I _am_ the smart one. I just can't pinpoint where I am on the globe based on the freaking foliage." For all her snark, she couldn't stop herself from shivering at the touch of his fingers on her cheek. She could see him shake with contained mirth and he reached around her head to gently tug at her hair and for a second she forgot she was surrounded by barren trees. Or on what planet she was for that matter.

She got her revenge when she raised her own hand to rake her nails across his jaw. "Also, if you wanted to make out, I can think of plenty of places closer to home where we could do that. Without getting dirt everywhere." And yeah, she got why he did the hair thing as often as he could, because the way he shuddered and actually _growled_ at her touch was absolutely mind blowing.

Instead of letting that take them forward, he stepped back. She had to applaud his restraint. "Later." He promised, backing out of her grasp and pushing through the undergrowth. Quirking a brow, she did the same and when she blinked past the sudden onslaught of blinding sunlight she saw… the Bellwood national park parking lot. Huh.

Feeling fingers twine through hers, she instinctively squeezed back, even as she fixed her doofus with a curious look. Did he want to hike or something? A little nature stroll? Because she wasn't going to say no-

He pointed ahead, a faint blush peppering his face. Following his finger, she grinned.

* * *

She'd sort of expected them to only spent a short while in the Bellwood Recreational Rental Shop, but as they opened the door, the sole customers in the shop, the elderly men behind the cash register had smiled warmly and told them he'd been expecting them; their grandfather had called ahead. Of course normally he'd _never_ rent anything to two ten year olds without adult supervision, but Maxwell was an old friend so he'd make an exception for them.

Gwen had quirked an amused brow at Ben, who shrugged. "Grandpa mentioned him when we drove past here last week. Gotta do _something_ while you take forever in the shower." He'd said.

They had a ton of things they could do, and Gwen really wanted to do them all, so she'd let the doofus pick instead. That was how she found herself clutching her stomach as Ben strode from the fitting room in tight canary yellow shorts and a neon pink shirt, complete with helmet fit for mountain biking, strutting like he was going down the cat-walk.

"You know, I think you were right! These really are my colors!"

"Please," Gwen gasped, "put them out of their misery."

Bernard, the proprietor, shot them both an amused look over his reading glasses, dark face crinkling in merriment. "I think it looks fashionable. Though you should straighten your posture more. Makes you appear more sure of yourself." He remarked from the other side of the large shop, his voice carrying easily.

Ben did just that and gave the bearded man a thumbs up. "See, Gwen? Someone here has taste."

"And it isn't either of you." She snorted, catching her breath.

"Taste is subjective." Bernard tried, only for Gwen to snort again and point a finger at Ben. The boy shamelessly waggled his eyebrows in the face of it.

"_That_ outfit is objectively terrible." Even if she did appreciate how the tight clothing reminded her pleasantly of how active their summer had been. He'd been scrawny when it had started, with the occasional bit of soft.

Not anymore. Definitely not anymore. Ben rolled his eyes, waving his hand dismissively.

"Everyone's a critic. Fine, I'll go with green and black. How about _you _pick something already?"

Now it was her turn to roll her eyes. "You just want to make fun of me as well." She accused. Ben snickered in response, stepping in close. Certainly not close enough to be suspicious, but close enough to speak to her under his breath.

"No," he purred, lowly. "I just think you'll look way better wearing this than I do."

Gwen felt heat spread through her chest and up her face, lips working uselessly to form words because _red alert_, the flirting was not a one time thing. That wasn't the only thing that made her clamp up the way she did though; no, that was because this was starting to sound very... couply with all the flirting. Which made her think that this date was not a joke. And if it wasn't a joke, a fluke, a spur of the moment idea-

Oh boy. She mentally smacked herself because _get a grip girl! _Yes he might've been sorta serious about this date but that was no guarantee that it said anything about _them. _She couldn't get ahead of herself here in case this wasn't as big as she hoped (feared?) it was.

Ben smirked at her and that, if nothing else, snapped her back to reality. Taking a quick glance at Bernard, she saw the man was engrossed in his book (_Nietzsche_? Under any other circumstances, she'd love to pick this man's brain, she was sure) and emboldened by it, quickly leaned in to peck him on the lips.

When she pulled back, the confident smirk had been replaced by a red-faced grin, shy as any he ever gave her. She winked, and loved the quick intake of breath it inspired. It was reassuring, the find that she wasn't the only one getting thrown for a loop.

"Sure thing. Gotta drive my boyfriend crazy every once in a while, don't I?" She teased, and for the first time, she used the term of endearment in a way that had nothing to do with their running gag, just to see how he'd respond. He didn't disappoint, because he vibrated happily and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"You drive me crazy just by breathing, babe." He admitted, and

...she was so doomed.

* * *

A branch nearly slapped Gwen in the face as she kept going, feeling twigs scraping against her legs. Her heart was pounding in her ears, her muscles were burning and her breath was short, surrounded by the barren remains of the greenery, stripped due to winter's chill settling in. It should have been the perfect storm for a complete meltdown.

Instead she grinned as sweat trickled down her neck, paddling extra hard. Under her wheels she heard fallen branches snap as she made her way through the forest, the distant lake sparkling in the sun- their finish line. Every snap of a branch felt like a petty personal victory. Every beat of her heart that she knew, she_ knew_ was for joy and exhilaration rather than for fear, was proof to her that she still could push herself without breaking.

She had hesitated when they'd stood outside the shop, looking at the treeline. Her feet had refused to move, all of her screaming not to go in there. She still hated that; at least with a panic attack, she had an excuse. But simply refusing to move because she was too big of a wimp? It took her mind back to so long ago, when she'd stood in front of a greener treeline, trying to take a step and failing.

And like that time, she'd felt fingers brush hers and a soft encouragement pulling her along. That time she'd grabbed a stick. Now she had a bike and a helmet. She'd make do. And if she didn't?

And the doofus was _right there_, breezing through the landscape like he'd been born to it and _of course _he'd pick the only physical activity he actually stood a chance of beating her at.

Not that he was going to. He so wasn't. "You're going to kill us both at this speed, doofus!" She called out in an effort to get him to slow down. Navigating over a rock formation that she had to go around, because she wasn't going to risk her neck like some idiot lame brain, he actually turned his head to grin at her.

"Dying counts as forfeiting!" He poked is tongue out at her and she fumed, putting extra strength in her paddling as she moved over a fallen tree, satisfied to hear it crunch.

"I am _so_ dumping you when I beat you!" She called out, panting. He laughed. Darn, not as distracting as she'd hoped.

They had a few more groves of trees to clear when she finally pulled level with him. He didn't seem to care, just smirking at her. "You seem tired, old lady. Maybe you should slow down a little."

She snorted. "I'll show you how it's done, brat!" Because that half an hour that she beat him by in age mattered, thank you. Ben had been timed for a month later though. Grandpa used to joke that when Gwen was born, Ben just couldn't wait any longer to be with her and popped out as well. As the years had progressed, she'd grown to think that he'd come out earlier just so he could spite her for longer.

Lately, she liked grandpa's explanation better.

She glanced at the dweeb and, noticing him looking back, she quirked her brow at him. "Say," she panted, "these things," she started, referring to her white shorts. "Aren't becoming see through right?" _That_ worked as a distraction, alright.

His foot missed the paddle as he stammered and that was the second she needed to pull ahead of him, leaving him in the dust as the broke the treeline, wheels crunching on the small rocks that surrounded the lake. It was foggier than it had been last time, but still beautiful. Though she wasn't going to take a swim in it this time, no matter how awesome that underwater kiss had been in hindsight.

Hearing the rocks crunch behind her, she pumped her fist and spun around with a grin, pointing at Ben. "Ha! My win! Consider your dumb butt dumped, doofus!"

Ben should have been pissed at being beaten. And being dumped. She guessed a part of him still was. And sure enough, he looked miffed, but going by the grin he gave her, he was happy enough to let her have this one. "Sure sure. Can we still kiss though? Asking for a friend." He waggled his eyebrows.

She snorted, laying her bike down on the ground, walking over to a nearby rock and removing her helmet. The cold air on her head felt divine, and she sucked in a few hearty breaths of it as she sat down. Hearing the rocks crunch, she felt Ben sit down beside her, his heat a comforting presence against the chill. A hand settled on her back, rubbing a soothing circle, and it was only then that she noticed that she was shaking a little.

She smiled at Ben. "Don't worry, doofus. It's adrenaline from beating you. Nothing else." He looked at her searchingly for a few more seconds before he a quirked a smile back, his hand trailing up her back to gentle tug at her hair. Just a small one, it didn't even move her head, it just said 'hello, I'm here' and she had to stifle a giggle. He could be such a dork. She sidled over to sit closer, thighs and shoulders brushing. They sat in comfortable silence for a long moment and Gwen just sucked it up, enjoying the feeling of exhilaration that still ran through her.

And how that feeling was truly just that, and not anything else. She felt like she couldn't panic if she tried right now. It made her feel much the same as when she'd woken up after a full night of sleep for the first time in ages a while back.

"Thanks, Ben." She turned her gaze from the lake to find his fixed on the Omnitrix. He looked up and gave her a smile, even if they both know where his eyes had been. She grabbed the offending hand and twined her fingers with his. "Thanks for showing me I can still do this."

He didn't look at her, gaze instead focused on their hands. A faint smile stole across his face, and she was pretty sure she'd never get enough of that. Ben's grins were sunny as his frowns were dark, but his small smiles were tender, loving even. If she had to pick a favorite, she knew what she'd go for.

"You already knew you could." He told her, giving her hand a squeeze. She used his distraction to lean in and bump her forehead against his and rest it there. He angled his head so he could nuzzle her face and that was _awesome._

"Sometimes I need a reminder." She confessed, nuzzling right back. She couldn't quite recall of this had ever been part of their comfort routine or if it had popped up more recently because it just felt nice... but she really didn't care anymore.

"I aim to please." He responded, sounding insufferably smug to the point that she considered pushing him over. But then she'd have to let go of his hand. And stop nuzzling him. Tricky.

Instead, they sat in silence for a while, feeling the fog roll in and the sky turn overcast, dropping the temperature further. She fired a pulse of mana through her veins, warming them both. She felt his thumb stroke the back of her hand in response, a silent 'thank you.'

"So..." she started. "does this mean we're, you know," she swallowed. "I have no idea how to ask this without sounding like a cheesy rom-com." She wanted to ask if this meant this was all real, because if they were…

He laughed, some of the tension draining out of him. "You're telling me. I feel like my live has been a cartoon ever since this thing dropped on me." He flicked the Omnitrix before he opened his eyes, those large green orbs giving her an endearingly coy look. "Ask it." He challenged.

"_You_ ask it." She returned.

"You started it, you're finishing it. Or are you scared?" It was the oldest trick in the book, but as he pulled back and started making chicken noises she couldn't reign in her temper. Ben always managed to bring out her childish side.

She blew out a frustrated breath, untangled their hands and whacked him upside the head. Not hard though; she liked his head. "Fine! Are we a couple now or what?!"

He rubbed the back of his head frowning. "Yes! At least if you want to be. Though my head might be safer if you didn't..."

"Of course I want it, you idiot. And it was just a love tap." She scoffed.

"Glad to hear it."

"I'm glad you're glad."

"You should be."

A moment of absolute stillness fell over them as they glared at each other before they burst out laughing.

"We still got it!" Ben cheered, snickering. Gwen gave him a playful shove before she froze, head snapping to meet is amused gaze.

"I just asked you to be my boyfriend without joking." She realized, a slightly delirious giggle escaping her.

He pulled her over, seemingly uncaring that the kiss he placed on her neck probably tasted like sweat. "Yup, you did." And was that giddiness the heard in his voice? _Sweet_.

"And you accepted!" Oh, she was going to be in _so_ much trouble when her parents found out. Kissing him was bad enough, but dating him? Perhaps they'd better spring the alien story on them first, at least that way he could defend himself when her mom tried to take his head off. Without raising anymore questions at least.

He shrugged, rearing up to nuzzle her face. "What can I say? I'm a man of great taste."

"Oh hush you." She shoved him again, standing up and walking over to their bikes, before thinking better of it. She turned around, coy smirk on her face. "Wanna have some more fun before we head back?"

He stood as well, giving her questioning look. It reminded her of a slightly befuddled golden retriever. She snickered before letting power rush through her, feeling her body come alive with magic and when weightlessness settled over her, she knew she'd nailed it again. Gwen wasn't sure what was better, the feeling of indomitable power, or the way he looked at her whenever she took on this form. It made her feel like a force of nature.

"Wanna spar?" She suggested, floating over to hover in front of Ben, smirking down at him and loving that her flight made him even shorter. He pulled her ego down to earth when he leaned forward to place a kiss on her collarbone though. Even though she knew she wasn't technically undressed in this form-

Well. That kiss certainly felt like it touched her skin, as did the hand he placed on her waist as he smirked right back at her, the veins in his left arm starting to glow green in anticipation of a transformation. She'd have lingered on the novelty of that, if his eyes weren't doing the same thing, green irises shining with power.

It was amazingly distracting. "Bring it on, firefly."

* * *

After they'd left, a surveilance drone transmitted its data before disintegrating, leaving only ash.

* * *

A/N: You didn't seriously expect a movie and dinner, right?


	16. Chapter 16: Normal

Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10.

A/N: Yeah so I know I kinda said in the latest chapter of Dancing Alone that there _probably_ wouldn't be a chapter of Reminder this week? Yeeeeeeah… whoopsie. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

* * *

Ben groaned, flat on his back in the grass, the morning chill sucking the heat right out of him. The sky above was only just brightening from the sun, and it honestly was way too early to be up-

"Get up." Came the man's command, a large shadow coming to loom over Ben, stepping out of the morning fog like a wraith. "Or are you giving up already?"

Ben groaned again before he sat up, grabbing the blunted practice knife he'd dropped beside him. Staggering to his feet, he raised the knife in front of him in the defensive stance he'd been taught.

Yes, it was way too early to be up, even on a weekday, but he'd made that choice. He needed help, after all. Plus, it was kinda nice to have something to do immediately after waking; it gave him no chance to linger in bed and think too much-

Stop. He needed to focus on the here and now. So he straightened and smirked at his adversary.

"In your dreams, old man."

Grandpa Max grinned before steadying his own stance and beckoning Ben over with a curt instruction. "Again!"

* * *

Max eyed his grandson with no small amount of amusement as the boy idly sipped some water, slumping over the booth table. Beside the child rested a back-pack for school, though he wouldn't be needing it for a while yet. The kid was a little roughed up, but the bruises on him were not from their training session; he'd shown up with those when he knocked on Max's door this morning as XLR8, asking to be trained. He grinned to himself. Training. The kid never ceased to surprise him.

"I think you did well, especially for a first time." Max remarked, downing some coffee, sighing happily. Nectar of the gods, that was for sure. Sheer grit and his wife had seen him through the worst of his time as a Plumber, but without coffee? He wouldn't have made it through the first _week_. "You're quite nimble, and the knife suits you. If it hadn't been blunted, I'm pretty sure I would've lost a kidney."

Ben grinned cheekily, face still a little worn out. Max knew he'd bounce back soon enough. "Yay. A talent for stabbiness. Gwen will be so proud."

"I dare say she will be when she hears you're training to be less vulnerable in human form-"

"Don't tell her!" Ben interrupted, waving his hands. At Max's stunned expression, the boy flushed before averting his gaze, sipping his water sheepishly. "I-I want it to be a surprise for our next sparring match."

_Ah, so that's why that lovely bruise on his jaw is there_. Max quirked a brow, amused. "Who won?"

"Me. Totally me. How could you even ask?"

Max hummed, taking another sip of his coffee. _3,2,1._

"Okay so _maybe_ she short circuited the Omnitrix when I was dizzy from swapping between aliens, but that was luck and I _so_ made her work for it. I think we should call it a draw."

Max eyed him in surprise, latching on to the most interesting bit there. "Dizzy from swapping between aliens?" He'd known the master control was back on, but Ben hadn't really mentioned it much beyond that. Ben hadn't used the watch nearly as much as he could, though that was in part on account of Bellwood's peace and quiet rarely requiring it.

Then again, knowing what he now knew about their space trip, it probably had more to do with Ben not _wanting _to use the watch, and he couldn't fault the boy for that.

Ben snorted. "You try going from Wildmutt to XLR8 and then to Grey Matter. It _stinks._" Ben put down his glass. "No joke, you go from only smelling stuff and walking on all fours to wanting to outrace the wind and being totally scatterbrained and impatient, to being pint-sized and overanalyzing _everyhing_. Makes my head spin." The boy groaned, cradling said head. "And don't even get me started about what happens when I try to switch around outside of the original ten too fast; I get stuck with sort of gimpy in between forms. Ever seen Fourarms with a mermaid's tail? Yeah, Gwen thought it was a riot." The boy grumbled before falling silent, crossing his arm while Max wrestled down a bout of laughter. Oh what he wouldn't have given to see that...

Ben's expression slowly turned fearful as he eyed the watch though, and Max could hear his pulse quickening and was already rising out of his seat when-

Gone. Ben closed his eyes, took a deep fortifying breath, and blew it out, fear draining out of him as quickly as it had appeared. "I'm okay. I'm okay. The thing's green, not red, not orange, I'm fine, she's fine." The boy whispered to himself, seeming to completely forget that his grandfather was there. The boy's eyes slowly slid open again, gaze ponderous as he regarded the watch, idly running his fingers over the dial.

His considering look found his grandfather, seeming to weigh his options. Max didn't let it show, but that still filled him with unease. He was used to keeping secrets, not to his grandchildren keeping secrets from him.

He owed his family an apology whenever the truth came out; being in the dark when it came to people you loved was not a great feeling.

"Say, gramps," Ben started, cocking his head. "do you have any idea what's at the core of the watch?"

Well, that wasn't what he'd been expecting. Though he wasn't sure what it was that he _had _been expecting, really. "Not a clue." He told Ben honestly, and had to chuckle at the boy's grimace. "Why ask me?"

"Because Azmuth's not around, and you're the smartest person I know aside from him." The boy admitted with a sheepish grin.

"What about Gwen?"

"Her ego is already through the roof from beating me at mountain biking _and _the sparring match. If I stroke it any more, she's either going to explode or melt into a useless puddle of satisfaction. Either way, she's down the list until she cools off."

"Makes sense." The old man replied, dryly. It really didn't, but he'd stopped trying to keep up with Ben and Gwen months ago. Maybe he shouldn't have. But at least they were opening up again, if slowly. Still, they were calling more often and often dropped by the RV randomly for a chat. He'd missed that. He'd grown used to knowing the kids better than their parents did; not sitting around a table with said parents and speculating what the hell the youngsters were thinking. That way lay madness; or at least catty conversations between Sandra and Natalie.

"It's just," Ben interrupted his chain of thoughts. "it doesn't make sense! Not even Grey Matter gets it!"

"Slow down there, little man." Max said, holding up his hand. "Take it from the top. What's got you worried about the Omnitrix?" He hoped it wasn't anything serious. The last thing Ben needed was this thing getting out of control again; he was just starting to get a handle on it all, or a semblance thereof at least. From what Ben and Gwen had told Max, he could easily tell that Ben's relationship to his fears was much more about gritting his teeth and shoving them into submission than it was about actually dealing with them.

It was far from the worst way to deal with your fears, but it couldn't deal with a persistent anxiety like the one the boy was struggling with. Anger burned out, after all. And when Ben's did, there needed to be something else to keep him going.

He was very glad that they'd started therapy when they did. They might just be in time to build Ben a safety net before his stubborn anger gave out; but if the watch started acting up again, they might run out of time sooner than they had anticipated.

The boy, for his part, was looking at the watch, idly twisting the dial. Max watched his hands like a hawk in case they tensed to claw. "You know how Ghostfreak is sort of… I don't know, conscious in his DNA?" Ben tried. Max give him a rueful smile and beckoned him to continue. It was probably the best way they could put whatever the heck Ghostfreak was and did into words anyway.

"When I'm Ghostfreak, I can sorta do that too. Like, I just close my eyes," the boy did. "relax," he slumped against the seat. "and then my mind just takes me into the Omnitrix. Ghostfreak used that to put himself back together, and to force himself out when I wanted to transform into something else instead. I've been using it to just roam about in there, trying to figure it out."

Max didn't hide his shocked expression. Then he grinned, finding the way the boy blushed embarrassedly at the open admiration endearing. Give him praise for saving the world and he would boast and cheer, but give it to him because he did something clever as just Ben?_ I am going to call Gwen after he's gone, she's going to love hearing this._

"That's pretty clever of you, Ben. How do you understand what you're seeing in there, though?" Because clever as it was, and clever as Ben could be when he really tried, the very reason half the universe wanted the Omnitrix was because no one had figured out how to make another one, it was _that _complicated.

Ben shrugged, still blushing. "Ghostfreak has a decent memory. I just take short trips into the watch with him and then swap to Grey Matter to analyze what I've seen. But that's the thing-" Ben turned to the watch again, expression confused. "whenever I get to the core, I don't get it anymore."

Max eyed the boy with a wary expression, knowing full well that they were walking a dangerous line. Part of him wanted to tell Ben to leave it alone, to not wake a sleeping giant, but-

He sighed, earning him a confused look from Ben. His grandson would never leave it alone, and he'd rather have the boy feeling like he could talk this over with his grandfather than to go at it alone. And if the Omnitrix's self-destruct ever did turn on again, Ben needed all the knowledge of the watch they could get. There was no certainty that they'd find Azmuth again after all.

"How about this," Max pointed at the boy. "you go Ghostfreak, right now, dive into that watch, find the core, and describe it to me what you see." Ben was silent at his suggestion before facepalming.

"I can't believe I didn't think of that..." he grumbled before, in a flash of light, Ghostfreak sat across from Max. The creature still filled him with disquiet ever since that time it had with tried to kill Gwen and take over Ben's body, but they'd assured him that this was no longer the deal. And that Gwen would burn it alive if something like that happened again. She'd looked quite vicious when she asserted that, so much so that Max almost felt sorry for if it ever did turn out to be conscious DNA again...

Ben's lone eye glazed over and Max knew the boy had gone inward, making his way to the core.

Minutes ticked by as Max got up to make another cup of coffee, before he was snapped from his thoughts by Ben's raspy voice drifting through the air. Spinning around, he saw the boy's eye was still glazed, but the form was… tense, if an ethereal form like that could even be called that.

"I'm in a room." The boy reported. "Large, shaped like a ball. There are… doors, to all of places that hold the DNA of my aliens. Grey Matter figured out that whenever I transform, the DNA gets shot into the core at the center of the room along with instructions to transform me, and then it just does." Max didn't know how, but he somehow understood that the creature was frowning. "But Grey Matter knows it _shouldn't_ do that, or shouldn't be able to, it breaks the laws of physics."

Max tapped his chin, leaning back against the counter. "Some of your alien forms don't exactly follow those laws either: both Ghostfreak and Heatblast have some magic in them to bend the rules just enough that they can exist. Maybe it's like that?"

Ben was silent again. Max waited patiently for him to resurface. He had no idea what the boy was doing in there, or if he could even hear Max, but he had time. And for now, Ben had too. He didn't need to leave for school yet.

"No." The boy decided, answering the question of whether he could hear Max. "It's _like _magic, but… rawer. Gwen's magic always feels… fleeting? Strong, but like it could be gone in a second, even when it's under my skin. This feels… primal. Absolute."

Max let that sink in, trying to soldier past the question of how Ben knew what Gwen's magic felt like _under his skin, _and felt a sense of dread well up in him. _It couldn't be…_

"Ben. What does the core look like?" He asked, knowing he sounded far to intense for the relaxed, analytic tone the conversation had had so far. Because if this was what Ben said it was, than that would explain how this thing waived natural laws like it was nothing and how the machine could simultaneously be a bomb strong enough to destroy the _universe_-

"Like a floating orb." The boy said, sounding surprised at Max's outburst. "Dark, except for the edge. The edge is white...ish." The ghost shook its head, seeming to start getting dizzy. "I can't look at it for long, it like… pushes at my brain. Can we stop?"

"Hold on just a little longer!" Max urged, moving over to lean onto the table, looking into Ben's unseeing eye. "Just two more things: describe the darkness of the orb, and the edge. Can you do that?"

The ghost bobbed its head, the closest approximation to a nod he could manage, seeming to struggle. "The void is- dark. But not empty; there's stars in it, but they're, they're not stars but more like the _idea _of stars, it's there, but also not-" The boy groaned.

Max reached out, grabbing the ghost's shoulder area. "And the edge? What sort of white is it? What do you feel when you look at it?"

"It's… white, at first, but when I look, I'm seeing shapes in it, of all sorts of colors, and they twist, like, like-"

With a flash of green Ben was himself again, seeming woozy and panting slightly. But looking back at Max like he hadn't looked in ages: like he was lost, and needed his grandfather's guidance, and like he _wanted _that guidance again.

"Grandpa…?" He asked, weakly, uncertainly. Max squeezed the boy's shoulder and smiled warmly.

"Well done, my boy." He praised, and the stunned expression the boy gave him, before it shifted into a slightly watery smile was just unfair, because how could Ben have gone so long on so little genuine appreciation? It made him sad just to think it. That ended today. "I think I know what we're dealing with thanks to that, but I'm going to brood on it for a while. You," He squeezed the boy's shoulder. "need to get to school."

For a moment Ben looked like he was about to protest, before the tension drained out of him. "Promise you'll get back to me about this?" He asked with a stern expression, pointing a finger at the man. Max quirked an amused brow at him.

"Promise you'll be back here tomorrow morning at six thirty sharp?" He returned, giving the boy a mischievous smile. Ben's own lit up the room more than the morning sun ever could.

"You know it!" He cheered, before jumping up and hugging his grandfather. Max chuckled, gleefully picking the boy up to crush him to his chest. Rather than be deterred, Ben just squeezed harder. "Is that all you got, old man? I'm not even hearing my spine pop! Gwen can do better than this."

"Ah, that's just because she's a pretty girl. They always do it better." He didn't need to see it to feel the boy's expression turn tender.

"Yeah, she is." Ben agreed when Max put him back down, before he startled. "I mean, for a dweeb!"

Max snickered. "Get to school, and do _well_, and I won't tell Gwen you called her pretty, deal?" That Gwen had referred to Ben as 'cute' more than once over the phone was not something he was going to tell the boy. He had that to hold over Gwen's head, after all.

"Deal! Later grandpa!" The boy waved before slinging his backpack over his shoulder, racing out the door with a red face before in a flash of green he zipped away. Max chuckled to himself. Yes, Ben might be getting a little too comfortable with Gwen being a girl, but it was still ridiculously cute. And they could handle a little cuddling and some blushing. If that's all it was, well. He'd seen way stranger things in his day. And if it was more...

Well. They'd deal with that, too.

His smile turned to a frown as he pressed a palm to his forehead, falling back onto the booth seat, sighing, his mind whirling with the implications of what Ben had told him. It shouldn't make sense, it shouldn't be _possible_, but…

"Azmuth, you absolute madman."

* * *

"Okay, divide by three, then put a zero behind the dot and that should give me the right answer aaaaand… nope. Drat." Ben flopped back into the grass, not caring that he'd get stains on his clothes. His jacket and cargo pants were both green-ish anyway. Bellwood was having a cold snap today, even if it was still nice in the sun. Plenty of kids were playing around in the schoolyard, and Ben kind of wanted to join them but…

He blew out a frustrated breath. He had a test on Friday and he was not ready _at all. _Groaning, he sat back, smacked himself in the face to wake up, and turned back to the book lying beside him with a glare.

The book did not look particularly intimidated. Ben cracked his knuckles. "You're going _down, _paper butt." Picking up the textbook, he flipped back to the page about the theory of this chapter, trying his best to absorb the knowledge (without much luck), but he was trying-

"What are you doing?!" Lizzie yelled in his ear.

Ben yelled and flopped back onto the ground, clutching his chest, heart hammering. "Don't_ do_ that, Lizzy!" He hissed, "I thought I was gonna have a heart attack!"

"But you didn't!" The cheerful girl chirped, sitting down next to him in the grass.

"It was close!"

"Oh c'mon, Ben, you know what they say: 'whatever doesn't kill you-'"

"-will try again later!" Ben snarked, sitting up, only to be smacked lightly on the head by Anna as she came up beside them.

"I'm quite sure that's not how that expression goes." The taller girl muttered sitting down on Ben's other side, munching on a sandwich. She gave him a meaningful look, even if it was still flat as a board. "You good, squirt?" Eyeing the bruises as well as likely noting his accelerated breathing.

_What? Why wouldn't I-? _Ah. Right. Breathing fast. Heart rate. They'd watched him enough to know the basics of that and he-

...wasn't bothered by it. He smiled. "I'm good, actually. Just startled. And the bruises are from a sparring match."

Anna shrugged, but she did have a faint smile on her face herself. "Just checking, little brawler. You wouldn't be the first person she's nearly killed by startling them. This weekend she snuck up on me while I was drinking tea. I swear, I saw my soul leave my body."

"Was it going up or down?"

"Okay listen here you cheeky little-"

"So what are you even doing?" Lizzie interrupted, picking up the textbook he'd left abandoned on the ground. "Math? During your break?" The brunette turned a heartbroken stare on Ben. "Please tell me you're not becoming a nerd! I thought you were better than this!" She cried, fake tears springing to her eyes. Ben hummed with approval. _She's good. Gwen's better. So am I._

Ben wiped his own false tears. "Oh, I know, but it happens to the best of us. You'll have to carry the torch of dumbness in this friendship from now on."

"I will Ben, forever- wait, are you calling me stupid?!"

"Careful. It's learning."

"Riveting as this exchange is," Anna interrupted with a graceful roll of her eyes. "the question still stands. Why are you suddenly concerned enough with your grade average to study during your breaks?"

Ben cast his case to his lap, feeling a flush creep up his face. "Because I..." He muttered the rest, so low even he couldn't hear it. The girls leaned in close, giving him penetrating looks. He flushed deeper under the scrutiny. _Oh for- _"I wanna transfer to Gwen's school, you happy now?!" He squeaked out, grabbing the book back from Lizzie and burying his face in it. It did nothing to stop the sounds though.

"Oh my god, that is _too_ cute!" Lizzie gushed, and he could _feel _rainbows and glitters radiating off her as she spoke.

"I just threw up in my mouth." Anna deadpanned from his other side, raising a hand to her mouth; though he could still see the grin she was trying to hide from the corner of his eye.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." Ben groused. "I know, wanting to be around my girlfriend. How dare I."

"Aww Ben," Lizzie said with a rueful smile as she glomped him from her side. "that's really sweet of you. So, how's it going?"

"...poorly. I hate books."

Anna snorted as she spun around and flopped back, laying her head down on Ben's thigh. The boy shifted the book out of the way so he could glare down at her. "Hey, that's 'Gwen-only' space." He warned.

"Are you going to kick me off?" The girl asked, giving him an alluring look. He scoffed. There was so little heat in that look, it was ridiculous. That was probably the only reason he was comfortable with the girls getting clingy; it was obvious even to him that there was nothing there.

"Why do I put up with you people?" He muttered, flopping back on the grass himself.

"Because," Lizzie said as she laid down her head on his abdomen. "without us, you're a shambling wreck of a boy with no social life."

Ben sighed. "Thanks, Lizzie. I feel so much better knowing that. By the way, if Gwen tries to kill you for this, I'm sitting back and laughing."

"Ah no worries short stack." Anna spoke up, eyes drifting shut in the warmth of the sun. "I have it on her authority that she's pretty secure about where she stands with you."

Huh. That was… sweet. He was glad that Gwen felt secure about their relationship (and every time he thought about that, he felt his stomach to a happy little flop). For his part, he'd never even considered _not _being secure in where he stood with Gwen, it was just kind of a given that they were going for it, all the more so since their date.

"So, do you need help?" Lizzie suggested, snapping him from his musings. "With the studying, I mean-" She gasped rolling over to gush in his face. "We could make a study group! We could all get into Gwen's school!" She gasped again. "I could violate her personal space everyday! Yes, so much yes! Let's do it!"

Ben couldn't contain a laugh at her enthusiasm. Anna snorted in amusement as well. "Easy tiger," she said, and Ben could feel the sardonic shake of her head. "we still have to pull it off."

"We can do it!" Lizzie rolled back onto her back and punched the empty air. "No stopping this train! We'll start this afternoon! After we destroy the Burger Shack!"

"Why would we want to…?"

"They forgot to put salt on her fries yesterday. She's salty about it."

"Ah. That's fair." Because really, at this point Ben figured that destroying a restaurant for poor service was just about the most normal thing in his life. "Sorry Lizzie, can't. I'm gonna meet aunt Nat after school. She's going to help me sort through… things."

He wasn't going to lie, the way Lizzie grabbed his hand to give it a quick squeeze was amazingly heartening. As was the approving tap that Anna gave his knee. "No Gwen today? You're a terrible boyfriend, Tennyson." The blonde teased.

Ben didn't care. "Her school ends a little later, but she'll come home soon enough. I'll see her then." Lizzie rolled around so she could look him in the eye, her face cutely mystified.

"'Home'? She lives with your aunt?"

..._crapbaskets. _"To us, home is wherever the other is." He explained and Lizzie squealed while Anna made gagging noises. _Crisis averted. _

Anna tapped his leg. "Hey, don't forget that you've got a Halloween party tonight."

"...was that tonight?"

"Beeeen..."

"No worries!" He clarified quickly. "I haven't got any plans. Plus, Gwen would never let me forget." Lizzie nodded enthusiastically.

"I can't wait to see your costume!" She gushed. Ben grinned_,_ glancing at the Omnitrix._ I can't wait either._ They lay in silence for a few minutes and Ben just soaked up the warmth of the sun and the feeling of safety. Nothing made him feel safe and warm like Gwen did, but having these two nut jobs around to watch his back was great in its own way.

The school bell rang and Lizzie moaned in protest. "Aww man! I was just getting comfy."

"You're telling me." Anna yawned, stretching as she sat up. "I get why Gwen puts up with you, you're a great pillow."

"Are you saying I'm fat?"

"Well, I would say you have a muffin top, but that wouldn't be right." Anna rose, and looked down at him with a superior raise of her brow. "You got the whole bakery down there."

"Nuh-uh!" Lizzie protested, poking at his abdomen before standing up as well. "I felt the muscles. Not fat."

Okay, that got him a_ way_ to interested look from Anna. "Can we see them-?"

"Yeah no. Gwen would kill me." Or worse: withhold kisses. "Ask her."

"Oh I will." Anna purred, again with no real heat. The routine was pretty funny though.

Ben waved her off as he rose and packed his bag again, following the two girls back to school while exchanging insults and chattering about stupid things, and for a second, Ben could pretend that he was just a normal boy. No complicated family issues, no aliens, no magic and no messed up brain; just a boy that was having fun with his friends before he'd go off to visit his girlfriend's house and having a party later.

Before summer, he'd always wanted to be special. But feeling normal was pretty great in its own right.

* * *

A/N: Guess I just felt like some wholesomeness. And yes, I know they are ten. Lizzie is just a perv. Also, this is kind of the age where they start talking and teasing about things like this while not knowing exactly what they're even saying. Makes for a lot of fun leeway. But no, contrary to some stories on this site, I am not going to push Ben and Gwen any further down the rabbit hole than some frenching. God knows I'm not above writing smut, but not for this story.


	17. Chapter 17: Pack

Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10.

A/N: Still alive! Sorry for the long wait folks, it's been a really busy and difficult time lately and been banging my head against a writers block until it sort of submitted out of pity, hence a bit slower on the draw than I used to be. My other stories will be getting updates soon as well, for any of you out there that reads more than one.

Also, in case you hadn't noticed yet, Shadow59 and Erico have started a Bwen fic called 'Courting Disaster' and it's already a great mix of drama and tooth rotting sweetness, so if you like Reminder, might want to check that out.

* * *

Natalie rubbed her temples, eyeing the small boy on the couch across from her with a weary sort of resignation. Said boy grinned back sunnily at the woman, innocent as an angel. She sighed.

"Ben," She started longsufferingly, "did you and Gwen have a fight?" Goodness gracious, the boy looked _scandalized _at the very suggestion.

"Aunt Nat! I'll have you know that Gwen and I can resolve our differences without fighting." He asserted, with a mock indignation that Natalie knew he'd learned straight from Gwen. It took all her willpower to not laugh. _Right, you two never fight after all._

"Ben, there's a large bruise on the side of your face-"

"Chain reaction accident. Those'll get you every time-"

"-and Gwen came back home on Monday with a black eye." Natalie remarked, pointedly. She could see the boy's mouth quirk when she said the word 'home', but afterwards he winced.

"Err, yeah, about that-"

"Ben." She rebuked, torn between sighing and laughing.

"Alright alright!" The boy defended, holding up his hands. "We sparred." He explained and… what?

"You sparred?" She asked, incredulous, distantly recalling Frank mentioning something to that effect a while back. Ben grinned.

"Oh did we ever. Gotta keep in shape." The boy flexed teasingly, his small arms lean. He grimaced though. "We may have gotten a little carried away. Sorry."

Natalie pinched the bridge of her nose. "Because nothing says 'true love' like beating each other up." She muttered. _Frank, you __romantic__ idiot. _Ben _laughed_ at that, of all things, giving her an odd look.

"Well duh. She's willing to put up with training with me so that I'm less of a wimp in a fight." He pointed out and that… was actually a good point.

Natalie sat back, notebook in her lap, tapping her pen against her lips, giving the boy a considering look. "Do you often need to fight, Ben?" She asked, dropping her previous line of questioning and jumping straight into another.

Ben sagged back into the couch pillows himself, clearly noting that the session had begun in earnest. He considered the question for a long moment, looking past her. "I…" He ran a hand through his hair. "More than I'd like." He looked her in the eye. "Can we save that for another time?" He asked, strangely timid, like he expected to be shot down.

Natalie smiled instead. "Of course we can. You set the pace, remember?" The boy slumped a little in relief. She made a note to ask about it later though. _'Fights a lot?' _She had to wonder why Ben had so much conflict in his life, or at all for that matter. Bullies? Hadn't he said that the bullies left him alone ever since those girls started hanging out with him? Yes, she'd have to get back on that another time.

"I did want to ask you something else." She started, glad to see the boy's attention refocus, the closed off expression giving way to curious openness. "Normally, therapy starts out with your therapist getting to know you, get a handle on who you are as well why you're here." She smiled, a touch rueful. "I think it's safe to say that we know each other fairly well."

Ben snickered. "Well yeah, you do seem a tad familiar. Have we met before?" Natalie suspected that the levity was more for the sake of giving him some breathing space than for the sake of being funny, strengthening her perception that Ben might be employing humor as a defense mechanism rather than anything else. She rolled her eyes indulgently.

"I think we saw each other at a Christmas party once. Last year?" She wondered, lips quirking. Ben snapped his fingers.

"Right! Now I remember you! How've you been, ma'am?" This time Natalie did laugh.

"Quite well, thank you. What brings a little boy like you here?" She returned, eyes focusing on his face. Ben didn't even flinch, but she could tell that the lad knew exactly what she was asking. He hesitated for only a second.

"Eh, I haven't been feeling well, lately." He held up his left hand, displaying the disarmed bomb, shrugging. "Figured I'd get help before it gets any worse."

Natalie nodded, the reminder of just how serious this was dimming what little joy they'd generated. "How have you been feeling, then?" She asked, knowing full well that it was a loaded question. But sensitive as the topic was, they needed to get it out in the open. If they couldn't even acknowledge why he was here, seeking help, they wouldn't get anywhere at all.

Ben turned still, eyes averted to the floor, seeming to fight down the instinctual desire to lie, or to clamp up, as both he and Gwen had ever since they came back home (or even before). After almost a minute of quiet, Ben finally answered her, a soft word floating from his mouth to her ears.

"Scared." He admitted, tension draining out of him. He grinned ruefully for a moment. It was a fake expression, done only for form. "I'm scared, and that makes me panic. Shocker, huh?"

Natalie hummed in agreement. This was not quite new to either of them, but it still needed to be established between them. "Can you tell me more about this fear of yours?"

Ben was again silent in the face of her question, this time for a solid three minutes. She didn't push him. She could do that in later sessions. For now, they had to get through this one without antagonizing him; she needed to prove to Ben that this could work. Finally, Ben exhaled a shuddering breath. "I'm scared of-" his eyes flicked to the bomb on his wrist, "of this thing starting to tick again, of people" he swallowed. "that I love getting caught up in the mess around it. Of them getting hurt."

Natalie nodded again, recalling that Frank had told her that Ben felt personally responsible when people around him got hurt; at least where Gwen was concerned. Max had confirmed that when asked. And though he talked about people he loved in a general sense… "Has anyone you loved ever gotten hurt, Ben?"

Ben scoffed, though she could see him tense. "Yeah, I recall this one time during the summer when grandpa stubbed his toe and oh boy-"

"Ben." She rebuked. There was a difference between pushing and forcing him to take this seriously, after all. He grimaced, falling silent.

"...yeah, they have." Ben admitted, and Natalie could tell there was a virtual library of things that were left unsaid in that sentence alone, and she couldn't even begin to untangle it. Hopefully, Ben would let her try. For now, she was trying very hard not to linger on how people he loved had gotten hurt, especially when she knew that one of the people that had gotten hurt had been her daughter. Much as she wanted to dig deeper as a mother, she was not a mother or an aunt right now. She was a therapist and she had _one_ patient before her and he needed her help just as much as, if not more than, her daughter did.

"Worrying about loved ones is perfectly normal." She pointed out. "Why does this worry make you so anxious that it makes you panic, though?"

Ben looked at her, already seeming very tired. And sad. She didn't know what he was thinking; whether he was asking himself that very question, or that he already knew the answer and was considering whether or not to share it with her. Taking a leap of faith, she put her notebook and pen to the side, got up from her couch to sit down beside Ben on his, resting a hand on his shoulder.

He tensed under the touch, though whether in surprise or discomfort, she couldn't tell. She hoped it was the first. "I don't need a full story, Ben." She told him, smiling in what she hoped was a comforting way. This was always more Frank's strong suit, and she'd never have done anything like this with another patient. But at the end of the day, Ben was a _child_. "I only need enough to understand what you feel, nothing more."

Ben looked at her for a long moment before tears welled up in his eyes and he looked down. His lips worked soundlessly for a bit before he finally managed to speak up, so soft she barely heard it. "I'm afraid that they'll get hurt again when the monsters come."

Natalie desperately wanted to write off that statement as dramatics, but instead it left her blood chilled. She soldiered past it, feeling that he'd clamp up if she pressed him on this. But that didn't mean she couldn't learn more.

"You feel responsible for Gwen's wellbeing." It wasn't a question, and Ben had the good grace not to deny it. It made sense, in a way. Ben was just about the only thing that could consistently calm Gwen down when she was not doing well. It stood to reason that as a result the boy would feel like it was his responsibility to look after her. Perhaps Gwen's trauma occurred first, and Ben was already feeling responsible when his happened. But it did beg the question…

"Does she feel responsible for _your_ wellbeing as well?" Because she'd seen enough of Ben to know that Frank was completely right about the fact that the boy cared very deeply for Gwen. But her daughter had always been good at playing her cards close to the chest-

Ben actually smiled at her question, face lighting up and for a moment he looked so happy she thought he might burst. "Yeah, she cares too."

Natalie was quiet for a moment, taking in the information, before she spoke up again. There was something slightly off here. "I think we can safely say that while Gwen cares about you, whatever is causing _her_ to panic as she does is not _about_ you per se. Just like your trauma is not just about her. But her wellbeing is clearly more intertwined with what's causing yours." She surmised. While Ben looked faintly uncomfortable with her assessment, he did not deny it.

"So, why is her wellbeing a large part of her trauma, whereas it seems that for her, it's not?" She winced inwardly at how confrontational that sounded, like there was something wrong about how much Ben cared when Gwen cared about something else, but the boy did not seem to take it that way; which was just as well because it was blatantly obvious that Gwen cared a lot about him too. It was just that while it seemed that their traumas were linked, their causes were not. Ben averted his gaze to the floor, huddling in on himself, his happiness abruptly shifting to what could only be described as bone-crushing _guilt_.

Minutes ticked by as the boy said nothing, to the point that Natalie thought he wasn't going to answer. "Because she never failed to keep me safe." He confessed, quietly.

Before Natalie's mind could start reeling from the implications of that, Ben stiffened beside her, suddenly alert. It was then that she heard the front door slam shut loudly. Both Ben and her were on their feet and racing toward the hallway half a second later, Ben slightly ahead, turning the corner to find-

Funny, really, in a morbid way, how Gwen tackling Ben to the ground felt more or less like watching someone get hit by a truck. She would have laughed if her little girl wasn't crying her eyes out, and for a moment she _really_ wished Frank was here. He was the one that got Gwen when she was this distraught; Natalie could never quite manage to. Even Sandra could do a better job than her in that regard.

Then again, she considered as Ben wrapped his arms around the tiny girl and holding her as close as was humanely possible, they had the next best thing coming around the house a lot these days. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that they had the _very_ best thing around, as Gwen melted into the embrace and buried her face in Ben's neck. The boy looked back up at Natalie with a somewhat embarrassed grin and Natalie rolled her eyes. She wasn't even going to pretend that things like this surprised her anymore.

The exchange of looks was interrupted by Gwen haltingly speaking up. "I-" She sniffed. "Marci pushed me into some bushes and-" she hiccuped, "-I got stuck." The girl finished, miserably, looking so, so very small.

Natalie flinched when the words sank in. She knew enough about what triggered Gwen to know that _that_ was a literal nightmare scenario. Little wonder that she'd all but dashed into Ben's arms. Speaking of which, the boy tensed tremendously, nostrils flaring in anger and his eyes becoming murderous-

Then it was gone and he was back to stroking Gwen's back and telling her that it was okay, that she was fine, that she was safe. Natalie smiled. The kid hadn't been joking when he said Gwen's wellbeing was important to him, and he clearly had his priorities right.

After a while, Gwen stood up, a looking drained, and Ben followed suit. The girl smiled weakly and reached out to cradle Ben's cheek and that was… quite a tender little moment they had there. Ben flushed slightly, pointedly looking in Natalie's direction, a look Gwen followed before retracting her hand as if burned.

"Err, hi, mom." The girl greeted nervously, seemingly just noticing her. The nervousness was a bit odd though; this was hardly the first time the two had been caught being cuddly, and Natalie had no idea what changed. She'd break her brain about that one later, there was enough coming at her as it was.

"Hello to you too, little carrot." Natalie returned. She could ask about what happened at school, but if it was big enough, the school had probably already contacted Frank and she'd hear about it later. For now… "If you're not feeling well, you two can just stay in and watch a movie, you know." And not go to that Halloween party. It'd be a pity since they already bought the costume, but if Gwen was doing this bad...

"No!" Gwen exclaimed, looking worried and shooting Ben a slightly distraught look. "I'm fine, it was just, you know, one of those triggers you told us about. I got it under control, it just took a little longer without Ben there-"

"How long?" Ben interrupted softly, giving Gwen a very pointed look. The girl faltered.

"Not that long." She defended, weakly, not meeting her cousin's eyes. Ben reached out to clasp her small hand, giving it a squeeze, and just like that, Gwen folded like a deck chair. "Twenty minutes, give or take." She confessed, barely above a whisper. Her cousin closed his eyes, inhaled deeply before releasing the breath.

"Why didn't you-?" He grit out, before Gwen interrupted.

"Because I couldn't _think_." Gwen answered his unfinished question with a somewhat helpless look, and Ben's mouth snapped shut, looking equally helpless.

Gwen sighed, looking torn between wanting to be anywhere but where she was, and precisely nowhere else. It was a very strange look. "I'm going to clean up; you staying for dinner?" She asked, glancing at Natalie as well as Ben, looking so hopeful that it made Natalie ache.

Ben shot the woman a questioning look, and having two pairs of those huge eyes pleading with her at once should be against the law. It just wasn't fair. Natalie rubbed her temple. "Don't you need to pick up your costume for the party at home?" She tried, already knowing that he'd find some way to weasel out of it and find some way to stay with Gwen for longer, and already knowing that she'd allow it. She couldn't say she was surprised at the prospect either, or that she hadn't bought enough spaghetti to feed an extra mouth already.

"Eh no I totally got that covered. No need to go back to my house." The boy replied with a grin.

"...fine, he can stay." Honestly, the way Gwen's face lit up was proof enough that it was the right choice. And someone had told her a year ago that one day, Gwen would actually cheer when told that Ben could stay over for dinner, she'd have called them mad.

And here they were. "Go clean up." Natalie told the girl, suppressing a grin of her own. In response Gwen made to go up the stairs, but when the boy made to follow, Natalie stopped him. Turning to her daughter, she told her that she needed to wrap up some things with regards to the session and that she'd let him go shortly. With one long look passing between them, Gwen disappeared up the stairs and Ben turned his curious gaze on his aunt.

She in turn looked down at the boy before inclining her head. "You did good today." She told him. Sure, she'd have liked to discuss the homework she gave him to see how he was dealing with managing his own panic attacks, but the blunt fact of the matter was that therapy was a conversation, and you hardly ever control a conversation entirely. They'd get back to that some other time. "Your homework is still the same, and I'll see you next week. Agreed?"

The boy saluted, but for all the joking behind the move it was also serious. "Sir yes sir!"

Natalie rolled her eyes again. After a moment of contemplation, she spoke up hesitantly. "You two get through an attack mostly by touch, right?" She asked. Part of her felt like even asking was intruding upon something deeply personal, but that probably had more to do with how… intense, Ben and Gwen could get. Neither of them was the type do anything by halves, including giving comfort.

Ben seemed surprised at the change of topic, but rolled with it, nodding quietly. "Try talking to her a bit more." She suggested. "When someone is stuck in their own head, comfort is already a great help, but it also important that they continuously have something other than their panic to focus on." She held up her hand. "It's just a suggestion though; if this works for you, than that's all that matters."

Ben wasn't looking at her, instead his gaze was fixed where Gwen had disappeared up the stairs, eyes distant, before nodding to himself. "I'll do that next time." He promised, deadly serious. "If it helps..." He shrugged, but the message was clear. If it could help, he'd do it, and that was all there was to it. Not waiting for her leave to go, he ran up the stairs before she could even protest. Not that she would have.

Making her way back into the living room, she sat back on her couch and massaged a sore neck. She'd learned a lot today, both about Ben and Gwen's trauma, and she was sure that when she sat down to work out what she'd gleaned in the coming days, it would give her even more to work with. The thought that Gwen had gotten hurt first, and that Ben's protectiveness was the result of that was one such consideration. However…

"_I'm scared of this thing starting to tick again, of people that I love getting caught up in the mess around it. Of them getting hurt."_

Natalie sighed, closing her eyes and laying her head against the headrest.

"_Because she never failed to keep me safe."_

There was also the chance that Gwen had gotten hurt because of this mysterious 'mess' Ben referred to, and that the guilt Ben felt and the sense of responsibility was because of that. But to be certain of that, she'd have to learn the order of events, and she had a feeling that Gwen might be better for that than Ben was.

And once she knew that, she could start piecing together what happened and slowly ease them into confirming, or denying it. And she could roast Max again, because if this thing was half as bad as it sounded, she was going to need to vent at _someone._

* * *

Gwen sucked in a breath of cool night air. Her witch hat blocked the street lighting overhead, and her robes kept her warm against the mild October chill. She put on a small smile as she waited for Ben to return from where he was 'changing into his costume' in the bushes, and for Anna and Lizzie to arrive so that they could go trick or treating for a few blocks before ending up at the party at Anna's house.

It should have been a fun prospect. It still was. Even if Ben undoubtedly had picked some alien as his costume and she wanted to strangle him for that one because how the heck where they going to explain any of his forms?! 'Oh no, he's not_ really_ on fire, that'd be super irresponsible!' Right. Good sell, that. But that aside, it should have been a fun idea to spend the night with her friends and boyfriend. And doofy cousin who was pulling double duty.

But in all honesty she really just wanted to huddle up with Ben somewhere quiet and sleep for a week. Today had drained her, and she still felt frail as a result. She shook herself, trying to banish the flashes of the bushes all around her, scraping at her skin, crunching where she touched them, engulfing her like-

Gwen whimpered miserably. _Please, please __just __stop. _She pleaded to herself, hoping against hope that Ben would be back soon because she couldn't stand the idea of having another meltdown in public and oh no there her heart went again-

"Helloooo cutie pie!" Lizzie greeted, glomping her and picking her up from the pavement as she did. "You're looking _magical_ tonight." She complimented with an utterly sleazy grin and all of it gave Gwen such a strong sense of vertigo that she actually felt aware enough to focus on the smaller girl instead of herself.

"Hey Lizzie." Gwen replied, tiredly. The small girl was dressed in robes like her, but different, browns and beige, more akin to… "Are you a Jedi?" The redhead asked when Lizzie put her down. The brunette grinned back, pulling out a goofy green lightsaber.

"Know it you do, baby. Hey, if you ditch the hat, I can get you a sword of your own and we can be nerds together! You already got the robes anyway."

Gwen was about to reply when she felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked back to find what had to be Anna in a _very _good Darth Vader costume. "No, child, you must come to the dark side instead." Was that a voice distorter? _Awesome. _"We have cookies."

The redhead shrugged apologetically at Lizzie, feeling much better now that she wasn't alone anymore. "Sorry Liz, but that's a no-brainer-"

A blur shot out from the bushes, tackling her to the ground and- "Eww Ben, don't lick my face!" Gwen yelled, pushing the blue face of Blitzwolfer's first stage away from her. Ben snickered, smirking in her face, and she had to admit that the fangs did add a nice touch to it. And, she had to concede, it was probably the only alien form Ben had that could pass for a costume… even if she had no idea how he even unlocked it again.

"Told you I had it covered." He growled, teasingly.

Gwen scoffed, placing a foot on his chest and firmly pushing him off. "Get _off, _fuzzball, I don't want your fleas." Ben whimpered pathetically and slinked over to hide behind Lizzie who was gaping at him in unabashed admiration.

"That is _amazing!"_ She gushed, reaching down to pet Ben, a move that caused him to tap his foot (paw?) in appreciation. "You gotta teach me how you did the make up! This looks so real! And how did you do those nails?" Lizzie's face turned deadly serious. "First the singing, now this? We have _got _to sign you up for the drama club."

Ben snickered, nuzzling into the petting touch. "Trade secret. Can't tell. And no flipping way, there's enough drama in my life. Can you do that thing behind the ear again?" Darn, the puppies eyes were_ terribly_ effective right now, and he wasn't even using them on her… yet. Oh boy.

Gwen gagged. "If she starts giving you belly-rubs, I'm gonna hurl."

Lizzie waggled her brows at Gwen. "Don't you mean 'I'm going to be very jealous of Lizzie that I didn't think of it first?'" She asked, innocently.

Before Gwen could point out that she really wasn't jealous of staying away from Ben's itchiness (she recalled his first transformation all to well), Darth Anna gave the redhead a thumbs up. "I got this." Before raising her hand and pinching her index finger and thumb together. Lizzie immediately mimed suffocation, clawing at her throat as she stumbled over to Gwen before dramatically falling into her arms.

"Remember me," the little girl rasped, "as a parasite of society."

"Eww, parasites! Yuck." Gwen dropped the girl like a hot potato, which caused Anna to actually laugh (and Gwen patted herself on the back for that one, because getting that girl to laugh was not that easy). Ben, on the other hand, was eyeing her… hungrily? She raised a brow at him, adjusting her hat. "What is it, doofus?" She asked, coolly. At least she hoped it was. Really this time. She felt collected enough-

Ben smirked at her, fangs glinting and eyes glowing from the light from the streetlamp, padding over to her and rising to his feet. Which, in this form, meant he was standing on the balls of his feet, and even slightly hunched, she had to angle her gaze _up _at him now and-

Okay, maybe she wasn't _quite_ playing it cool anymore. Ben's smirk widened, and he leaned in- but stopped just shy of her face. "That cold blooded indifference is _really _hot."

...yup, definitely not playing it cool anymore. On the ground, she heard Lizzie snicker. "Oh Ben, you _dog._" Which caused a pained groan from Anna, who clutched her chest.

"You are _so _lucky that you're endearing." The blonde muttered, pinching the mask as if it was the bridge of her nose. Gwen only barely registered all of this, eyes still on Ben and _very _tempted either smack him for being so forward or take him up on it and when he started leaning in she had to act fast-

Putting a hand over his mouth, she grumpily glared at him. "No. I'm not making out with a dog, or anything like it. I'm drawing a line." _No aliens, doofus. _

She could feel Ben smirk against the palm of her hand and faintly felt him nip at the skin. "You're the boss, babe." _Fine, spoilsport. _

She pulled her hat over her face in an attempt to hide her flush at that little pet name, but Ben's amused huffs told her she'd failed already. "Let's go!" She squeaked, before stomping off. Hearing nails click behind her and then beside her, she glanced down to find that Ben was on all fours again, easily keeping pace. If he had a tail, it would probably be wagging. Glancing over her shoulder to find that Anna and Lizzie were a bit back, she muttered to him "How did you even…?"

Ben grinned up at her. "Figured it out with Ghostfreak when I was roaming in the Omnitrix. Grey Matter worked out the kinks. It wasn't really what I was looking for, but not gonna pass it up either."

"Huh." Gwen reached down to pet his hair. "Good boy." Ben scoffed, nipping at her fingers. She grinned. Maybe tonight wouldn't be as terrible as she thought it'd be.

The next hour or so held true to that hope. As they meanderingly made their way to Anna's place, trick or treating as they went, Gwen quickly started feeling better. Even as both her and Ben found out that this form of his came with an overabundance of racing energy and an enormous appetite. It was much more than just a costume, after all. Gwen ended up funneling most of her spoils to him. After two houses, though, she started taking the offered healthy treats that people often kept around for kids that didn't like candy.

Gwen smirked as Ben 'wolfed down' more fruit in ten minutes than she'd seen him eat all summer. When he glared at her, she shrugged. "You're already scruffy, no need for you to get scurvy as well."

And then they got to one of the last houses before Anna's (or so the black-clad girl claimed) and Gwen was treated to the sight of one very little girl opening the door, her grandmother looming behind her. The girl thought Anna and Lizzie were awesome, she thought Gwen was beautiful (a sentiment Gwen rewarded by creating a magical butterfly of light, because she was a witch darn it and she could always say it was a magic trick) and Ben…

"It's a giant puppy!" The little dark skinned girl squealed, eagerly reaching for Ben's face as he sat on his haunches. The boy leaned down to sniff at the approaching hands, before leaning in closer and sniffing her small face, to the toddler's loud delight. Gwen just shook her head at him, but couldn't hold back a laugh when the toddler climbed onto Ben's back and he raced her around the yard. Absolute doofus.

Lizzie waggled her eyebrows at Gwen while Ben raced around, smirking. "Would you look at that. He's good with kids."

Gwen flushed and spluttered, because for crying out loud they were _ten_, earning her laughter from everyone, including the older woman. "Oh this is just adorable." The lady remarked as she turned her head. "Bernard honey, come see this!"

Gwen felt her blood run cold, smile dropping every muscle in her body freezing as her mind stuttered to a halt. _No. No way. No flipping-_

The dark skinned bearded man lumbered up to stand beside his wife, snickering when Ben came to a screeching halt near the door and let the toddler climb off- before freezing as she had when he spotted the man too. Bernard's eyes lit up, face crinkling as he smiled. "Well, if it isn't Max's-"

"Yes, its us, surprise!" Gwen interrupted, grinning. She hoped it didn't look as manic as it felt. "But we really gotta go, see you!" With that she grabbed Anna by the cape while Ben quite literally tossed Lizzie over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She didn't need to look to know that they were watching them all go with bemused expressions-

"Bye puppy! Come play soon please!"

"Will do!" Ben called over, because her doofus was insufferably friendly like that. Neither of their companions spoke up with regards to what just happened, but Gwen had a feeling that she'd have to think of a lie to explain it away later.

And that made her nervous.

* * *

The party was loud and crowded and flashy, and the mansion in which it was held was equally outraous. A part of Gwen had been surprised when it turned out that Anna lived large, but most of her just took it in stride. She'd seen weirder. Ben had been more than a little flabbergasted though.

"_You're loaded! Why do you even go to that dump of a school that we go to?"_

"_I love the ambiance." _

Her friends had scattered shortly after arrival, Anna to find her parents, Lizzie because she had some people to greet and Ben had been hijacked by half the room gawking at his 'costume'. She couldn't see the little twerp, but she was betting that he was loving the attention. Most of the people in the room were their age group, even a few couples like her and Ben.

Gwen had mingled with them all, using small spells to add some magic to the room where she could get away with it. She loved the way Ben looked whenever she did that, a mix of wonder and mischief, as if he hadn't seen her use those some powers to preform way more impressive feats. When she'd pointed that out, he'd just smiled.

"_Guess my standards have gotten really low." _He'd jested, but she could hear the real meaning loud and clear. He liked her spells, even her small ones, because they were _hers_. The thought had done wonders for her mood, if nothing for her frazzled nerves.

Gwen sighed. That had ended some fifteen minutes ago when Gwen felt all her energy abandon her.

They had been _this_ close to being found out. Sure, she trusted both Anna and Lizzie not to hate them if they did find out that she may have gotten a little too comfy with her cousin. Heck, she trusted them to look after Ben when she wasn't around after all; comparatively this was a lot less important as far as Gwen was concerned.

But like grandpa Max had said, she wanted their story, every bit of it, to get out on _their _terms, and not because fate blurted it out for her without so much as a 'by your leave.'

But she was pretty sure Bernard had been one word away from doing just that, and the thought that they were always _this_ close to having things blow up in their face-

"You okay there, Gwen?" Darth Anna spoke up as she slid up beside the redheaded witch. She wasn't. She knew she wasn't, and her attempts to answer only made her lips work soundlessly and damn it all not again-!

Anna clasped a hand on her shoulder, turning her head and waving. Lizzie materialized out of nowhere, large brown eyes worried. "Gwen? What's the matter?"

The taller black-clad girl interrupted Lizzie's concern. "Go find Ben. We're going up to my room." She instructed the smaller bubbly girl, who saluted immediately and raced off. Then the blonde grabbed Gwen by the hand and dragged her through the crowd, up the stairs. The redhead did her best to hide in her head in her hat. She hadn't spotted anyone that she recognized amongst the guests, but she couldn't be sure.

And she really didn't want to have another meltdown in front of the same people, or at all for that matter.

The thought did nothing to calm her racing heart. Distantly she resigned herself to it just being one of those days on which it all hit the fan. First she woke from nightmares in the morning, then she got stuck in some bushes, then they almost get caught because of Bernard…

And now she was having an attack in front of Anna, who had up until this point likely thought that Ben was the only one with problems. Another part of her story that got out without her choosing to tell it. The realization made her even more miserable.

The house passed her by in a blur; she only came more or less back to herself when she was seated on an obscenely large bed with a pink comforter in a mostly pink and purple room, Anna pulling off her helmet and releasing her hair from the tight bun she'd had it in. The long blonde locks were fearsome to behold, even if her huge blue eyes held nothing but concern… on what was supposed to be a fun night for all of them. Gwen felt tears well up in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," darn it, was crying all she did these days?! "I-I should be fine, it'll pass. It always does. It's just-" She hunched in on herself, trying to hide in her robes and hat, breathing quick, heart hammering in her ears. This was hardly the worst one she'd ever had, not by a long shot, but it still felt terrible and she really wished-

The door slammed open and not one second later she was engulfed in warmth. Through a haze of tears she could tell that Ben had jumped onto the bed and was holding her, but it was all wrong because Ben wasn't supposed to be blue or this hairy-

"Hey, hey!" A clawed hand gently tilted her face up to meet his, and she tried not to imagine them being thorns instead and tried to ignore the way his fangs looked far too much like the ones that had tried to chew on her-

"Eyes up here dweeb!" ...Wildvines didn't say that. Tearing her gaze further up to fix on his eyes, she latched onto that familiarity like a lifeline, because that shade of green was _hers _in so many ways and she could never mistake it for anything else. "That's it." Ben praised. "Eyes on me." He shook her shoulder. "You're safe, okay? We're safe. See?" He held up the Omnitrix for her, showing off the green display. "All green, and you're fine too. You're with me, and I'll eat any plant that comes near, trust me. You saw me go ham on the vitamins earlier."

Gwen's lips quirked shakily and she closed her eyes, sucked in a breath, letting his comfort soothe her. He brought up a hand to tug gently at her hair. "Hey, babe. I need you to reach out, okay?"

Reach out? What-?_ Ah. __Yes, t__hat might work._ Reaching out, she placed a hand on his face, feeling the branches of the Omnitrix network spread all throughout him pulsing inside him, and then sent her mana racing down it. It should have shocked him, or zapped her. It what had usually happened whenever they tried to mix tech and magic. Instead, they'd found that doing so…

Gwen sighed, relishing the feeling of being intertwined so much that she could literally match her heartbeat to fall in line with his. Every twitch, every breath, every_ feeling_ was layered with his, so clear to hear yet nebulous at the same time; like a vivid dream half forgotten upon waking. It took a few long minutes to calm her down, but even through that fearful haze she had to appreciate that he did not attempt to kiss her in anyway because he was still in an alien form, or that he impulsively shifted back to help her better. She had enough of him like this to get the job done.

Her heart slowed down to match the pace she felt in his, his soothing thoughts pulling her own back in line. She opened her eyes to see Ben grinning down at her. "Welcome back."

She quirked a smile before trailing her eyes to the audience that had joined them on the bed-

"Guys," She grumbled as the two girls squeezed the air out of her, Ben cheerfully joining in. "I need _air._"

Ben scoffed. "Air is for the weak. Don't let up girls! She's not even blue yet!"

"You are though." Lizzie remarked, eyeing Ben with a twinkle. The boy rolled his eyes, pulling out of the pile, and Gwen distantly marveled at how it didn't feel at all like such a stranglehold on her usually would. It was… reassuring, more than anything.

"Fine, I'll go take a shower to wash it off. Err, where is…?"

Anna pointed to the right. "That door."

"You have your own bathroom? Cool. Anyway," Ben made his way over and opened the door, but not before giving them a stern look. It was far more effective in this fierce form. "if something happens, come get me." He instructed. Lizzie immediately reared up with a sly grin.

"Is that an excuse to barge in on you while you're showering? Because I'm pretty sure these ladies wouldn't mind doing that just for the sake of it-"

Two red faced girls smacked her on the back of the head. "Pervert!"

A while later, Ben sat on the floor with Lizzie as she interrogated him on the make-up and the hair implants and the nails (all of which Ben had 'accidentally' flushed down the drain while cleaning up _whoopsie_). He was making up nonsense answers just to see how long it would take for Lizzie to call him out, but he kept a close eye on Gwen.

Gwen, for her part, kept her eyes on him. Yeah, she thought the canine form was a brilliant idea for a costume, and it certainly had its upsides, but she much, much preferred the look and feel of her own doofus. And he'd actually used the shower to make the cover complete, the towel was still draped around his neck, hair damp.

It had only taken him fifteen minutes to make it believable, and during that time the girls had mostly left Gwen alone when it came to what the heck her problem was. Then again, Ben had mentioned that while Anna and Lizzie helped him calm down plenty of times, they never asked _why _he need calming down. She appreciated the understanding, even if she could tell that Lizzie was bursting with curiosity. But that didn't mean they wouldn't ask questions at all, and Gwen was mentally preparing herself for that.

Beside her, Anna, who had already changed into a sweatpants and oversized purple shirt, eyed her with a considering look. Seeing the normally uptight girl dressed so sloppily was its own special brand of weirdness; kinda like seeing Ben in a suit.

"Gwen," the blonde started. The redhead braced herself. _Here it comes…_ "who's Max?"

Gwen exhaled a breath. That one was easy enough. "My grandpa." She answered, honestly but shortly. She noticed that Lizzie and Ben had fallen silent, and could feel their eyes on her. Lizzie's curious, no doubt.

Anna spoke up again. "Why didn't you want us to meet that man? Is it like when you didn't want Liz to meet your mother?" _Hit the n__ail on the head. _

Gwen just nodded, eyes on Ben instead of the blonde. The boy's expression was considering, but after a moment he nodded, giving her a faint smile. Gwen felt slight relief at that, even if she was still pretty nervous. But these two had supported them so much and it would be so nice to have _someone _to talk to…

"...why don't you want your family to know about your boyfriend?"

Gwen exhaled a breath, trying to just come out and say it but finding the words stuck in her throat. _Because he's my idiot doofus of a cousin and I've hated him for over a decade until he turned out to be really awesome and my mother would probably kill him if she found out and my grandfather would never let me live down warming up to him at all much less enough to kiss him and date him-_

_Calm down. _

Funny, how the soothing voice in her head no longer sounded like grandpa Max these days, but like the little boy that seemed torn on whether to get up to come to her again. Gwen grabbed Anna by the hand and stood from the bed, dragging her over so that she could sit herself down beside her lame brain on the floor instead. Anna did the same directly across from her beside Lizzie, both girls looking mystified. "Just," Gwen started, rubbing her temple, "look at us."

Lizzie grinned wolfishly. "I see a really cute couple-"

"No, _really _look at us." She instructed. Beside her, Ben looked back at the girls as well, mute, waiting patiently, the only sign of his nervousness being the way he clasped her hand on the floor.

Anna and Lizzie did as told, and Gwen tried not to squirm as their eyes ghosted all over them, but when Anna looked directly into her eyes before the flicked immediately back to Ben's, she gulped. She hoped she hadn't made a terrible mistake.

Lizzie noticed Anna tense and gave the girl a questioning look. Anna gestured to her eyes, to which Lizzie snapped her head back up to peer curiously at their green orbs- and froze a second later, jaw dropping.

"Gwen," the small girl spoke, timidly, breaking the tense silence. "what did you say your last name was?"

Gwen closed her eyes, exhaling softly. _Now or never._"I didn't." She waved a hand, putting on her best sheepish grin. "Gwen Tennyson." She introduced herself. Ben put on a sunny grin, holding up their linked hands.

"Cousin of yours truly. I regret nothing." He declared, and despite the situation, Gwen had to snicker. Ben would sass the heat death of the universe if he could.

She waited for the sounds of disgust and rejection to start, but instead she got Anna and Lizzie exchanging a long look before they nodded in unison- and jumped forward to drag the Tennysons into another hug and Gwen would never admit it but the amount of relief she felt brought a tear to her eye.

When they pulled back, Lizzie spoke up. "Okay, when and how?" She asked, sounding far too eager to know it all.

Gwen put a finger to her chin. "When it all went wrong? Well, I think it was about twenty minutes after my birth when this madhouse started-"

"And I was born into it. Never stood a chance." Ben added solemnly.

"Not that you dolts!" Lizzie cried, to Anna's subdued snickers and Ben and Gwen's overt ones. "I mean, how did she end up your girlfriend? There's gotta be a story there."

Gwen turned to face Ben again, and rather than just exchange a glance really took the time to look at him. Honestly, she didn't know when it was exactly that Ben had become approachable enough to be unorthodox boyfriend material. Probably sometime after she warmed up to him and when they started taking care of each other in the wake of their shared… experiences.

To borrow a phrase from her dad's overused romance novels, it had put Ben in a new light for her. She'd quickly learned on their summer adventures that, if nothing else, they could rely on each other to watch their backs, to catch each other when they fell. That had already changed her view on Ben a lot. And she'd quickly learned that Ben was probably one of the most selfless people on the planet, willing to risk life and limb for strangers (all while being pettily selfish over the most insignificant things).

But she hadn't known that her doofus could be _caring_ until she woke up crying one night and crawled up into his bunk, expecting to be kicked out but finding a warm embrace instead. Perhaps that had been the moment when friendly familiarity had given way to more. But explaining all that was impossible without going through the whole story…

Ben shook his head with a rueful smile. She returned it. Yeah, dropping _that_ story on their friends would probably make them explode, would take too long, and likely put them in danger; and that wasn't even considering that there were parts of their story that Ben and Gwen did not _want_ to tell yet. Or at all.

"Well, you see, we're kinda… comfortable around each other." Gwen explained, opting to go for the direct cause of their current state rather than the underlying reason. "Wasn't always the case, but we are now. So a while back, when we were at the mall before school started, T.J. and Cash found Ben and bullied him about how no one would ever date him..." Not that her cousin had been very impressed with that little routine.

"Gwen decided to have some fun." Ben supplied, ears faintly red. "And then the rumor mill got spinning..." He gave Anna and Lizzie a significant look; the two had played their part in keeping that little rumor hot and happening, even Gwen knew that. Lizzie had the decency to look embarrassed. Anna couldn't be bothered.

"And I so wanted to sink this ship when we first met." Gwen picked up where Ben left off, gesturing at Anna and Lizzie. "But..."

The boy's grin was slightly sheepish as he rubbed the back of his head. "With the way we act… would you even have believed us?"

"We figured you wouldn't." Gwen concluded. "So we kinda rolled with it and sorta got… _way _more comfortable than we wanted to." She finished with a flush. "No offense." She muttered at Ben.

He shrugged. "None taken. If someone had told me a year ago I would _ever_ kiss you, much less like it, I'd have hurled. No offense."

"Same." She intoned, petting his shoulder sympathetically. "Same."

"Wait wait wait!" Lizzie interrupted their exchange. "So you _weren't _dating when we met, but you are now?"

"...yes?" Gwen answered, cautiously.

"...there is literally no difference other than some kisses. You guys are _so_ weird."

This startled a giggle out of Ben and she snickered as well. '_Weird' doesn't even _begin_ to cover us, Liz. _"You have no idea." Gwen admitted. "But yeah, we're dating now. For real." They'd made very sure that that was clear. Her expression turned apprehensive, dread settling in the pit of her stomach. "You're not… upset?" She asked the two girls across from them, seeing Ben freeze from the corner of her eye.

Lizzie gave them a weird look while Anna shrugged. "Should we be?" The small brunette asked innocently, eyes huge.

"No!" Gwen quickly reassured. "No the 'not freaking out' part is really, really great it's just not what I _expected_." She explained; because while she'd _hoped _for acceptance, and even expected it eventually, she also expected some weirdness. But they weren't weirded out. At all. "I mean Ben and I aren't exactly… typical."

Anna shrugged. "Yeah, no worries. We're no strangers to being atypical." Gwen quirked a brow at that, but Lizzie derailed her thoughts by addressing Ben.

"I guess you can't just tell the family and live happily ever after?" She suggested, cheerfully.

"Are you nuts?!" Ben exclaimed. "Aunt Nat would kill me, quarter me, burn the pieces, scatter the ashes, gather them put them back together, bring me back to life and and- then she'd say really mean things and I wouldn't be allowed to see Gwen." He trailed off with a pout, and really, it was heartening that out of that list of horrible things, he seemed by far the most bothered by the last bit.

"That might be a problem in the future." Gwen mused, expression sour. "We have way too little impulse control, and there's only so much we can write off. Heck, I think my dad already knows and has just resigned himself to it." Ben grimaced, but couldn't deny it.

Anna gave them a thoughtful look, cradling her chin in her hand, blue eyes sharp. "Why not ease them into it?" she suggested, idly twirling a gorgeous blonde lock around her finger. The Tennysons turned to her in unison, varying expressions of incredulity on their faces.

"How do you suggest we do that?" Ben asked, echoing the question in Gwen's mind.

Anna smirked, Lizzie hiding a grin behind her hand as well. "Same way you convinced us."

* * *

A/N: Hope you liked the extra long edition as an apology for the long wait. Lots happening in this chapter, hope I didn't dump to much on you at once. Sorry for any errors, FF formatting often screws me over. Would love to hear your thoughts :)

Also, to 'RandomReviewer': First of all, thanks for all the reviews. Don't think I didn't notice you, I absolutely did. Also, yeah, my stories are full of references and a lot of them are from Gumball XD You asked me a question: 'your other stories are pretty fast paced in that you easily skip around weeks or so between the next chapter. I mean, in playing the odds a little over two months as passed for 6 chapters, while for 16 you have about the same amount here if I'm counting right. but in Reminder, your story is really compact. The time between chapters can be literally just a few hours. So I'm kinda wondering why this story has such a slow pace compared to the rest? Not complaining, just curious.'

There's three reasons for that.

1) Reminder was born as a oneshot. I set it up in that time to be 'three days out from coming home.' Then chapter two came and I wanted it to still be 'on the road', so it was within that three day span. Then they came home and I couldn't very well skip over that, so that was close too. The picture day was a few days later, and the subsequent week was Ben and Gwen hanging out before school started. Then there was school, and that first week was important, as was the fallout etc. The way events tied into each other made everything happen in quick succession.

2) This story focuses on mental health, romance notwithstanding. Mental health is literally a day to day experience, sometimes even an hour to hour. Skimming over that would not do the continuous struggle to face that any justice, so I don't. Added to that, Ben and Gwen are children; they tend to live in the 'now'. The past is essentially what they remember and the future is this nebulous thing they know little about, so it suited my characters better in the regard as well.

3: A lot of Ben 10 stories, most notably Little Moments and I wanted what I saw that day, skip ahead weeks or months at a time per chapter or between chapters. I can appreciate this as I do the same thing in Playing the Odds. But I kind of wanted this story to be different, so when I noticed how compact it was becoming, I figured 'why not write a rollercoaster instead of a train ride?' and here we are.

...as the preacher said, I would write shorter sermons, but when I get started I get too lazy to stop.


	18. Chapter 18: Showing

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10.

A/N: Hi folks. Still alive, as you can tell. Sorry for the long wait. Bluntly put, real life took a turn for the worse and it's kinda hard to juggle three stories when that happens. I'm trying to get back into the game.

Because I've had the question a few times: Bernard, the man from last chapter, was also the proprietor of the rental shop in chapter 15, who knows Ben and Gwen as Max's grandkids; something that would be awkward to drop in front of Lizzie and Anna. The near miss is what made Gwen anxious on top of an already messy day. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

Also Guest1910, your review under Dancing Alone: 'Maintaining a healthy lvl of insanity #194  
As you leave the zoo run to your car screaming your lungs out declaring, "Their loose! Their loose!"' Laughing my butt off I am going to make Ben do this somewhere. This is too in-character to pass up.

* * *

Gwen opened the door to Ben's bedroom after bidding her aunt and uncle goodnight, Sandra's oversized shirt billowing as she moved. It almost fell off her shoulders, the ridiculous thing, but it was comfy and that was really all that mattered.

Her father had just snorted when she'd called to inform her parents that she was staying over, not surprised at all. Gwen had neglected to mention that she'd carried a small pack under her robes all evening with essentials in anticipation of it. Sure, she understood that Ben and her needed to be able to be apart, that being so intertwined was unhealthy. She wasn't stupid. She got it.

But that didn't mean she wasn't going to sneak in _every_ second more that she could. Plus, both their schools had ruled that they'd start at noon tomorrow rather than earlier so that kids could actually enjoy Halloween. It'd be criminal not to make use of the extra time together.

There was a cot prepared for her next to the bed, but she just scoffed at it, stepping right past it to pull Ben's blanket aside so she could get in. He grumbled, already dozing a bit, but didn't struggle as she settled in beside him. She got about half a second of space before she felt warmth snuggle up beside her and she grinned, nuzzling back. Slightly above her face, she felt his nose twitch.

"Your hair is itchy." He complained, but made no move to escape it. In fact, he borrowed deeper.

"You love it anyway." She challenged haughtily. Retaliation came in the form of a tug at the back of her head. She hadn't realized that his arm had snuck around.

"I do." He agreed, voice thick. "It's seriously disturbing. I can't look at orange things anymore without thinking of dweebs. I think I need help."

Gwen suppressed a giggle, feeling her face heat slightly. "You're already getting help, remember?"

"Pretty sure your mom's gonna put two and two together if I start going off about the beauty of red hair. Or she's gonna think I'm flirting with her."

"What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall during _that _session..." Another tug at the back of her head, but it was so weak it might as well not be there. She could feel his amusement rumble through every inch of him though, every spot that they touched- which really was a lot of spots, now that she focused on them. "Speaking of sessions," Gwen started, crawling up and laying on her side, propping her head up with her hand, looking down at the lazy bum. "how was yours?"

He yawned. "Smooth, dweeb. I almost didn't notice that tactful change of subject." She swatted at him even as she grinned. He only halfheartedly tried to stop her before they settled down. "It was… tiring." He decided, eyes somewhere on her collar, though she didn't flatter herself by thinking he was actually seeing anything with those distant eyes.

"Because she pushed…?" Gwen asked, tentatively. Ben startled from his thoughts, eyes snapping up.

"No! No, not at all." He was quick assure. "She more like, I don't know, tried to _get_ me_. _Like, what I was thinking and feeling in general."

That… sounded just as bad as being pushed on the actual events, honestly. "Great." She muttered.

The boy snaked an arm around her waist. "You'll be fine, babe. She's not going to ride you harder than she did me."

Gwen snorted. "She absolutely will." The girl grumbled, biting her lip. Her mom was less of a taskmaster these days, for sure, but Gwen wasn't willing to bank on that to pull her through her session tomorrow. And that didn't even begin to cover how they were going to actually go about 'easing their parents' into the idea of, well, them. The best they had was Anna's idea of 'showing' them; but how to toe that line was going to be one heck of a minefield to navigate-

Ben tapped her forehead. "I can hear the gears grinding." He said, voice thick with fatigue. "Go sleep, nerd queen. Give that big brain a break."

"I can't." She groaned, sliding back down and snuggling into his chest, muffling her voice. "Too much to think about." She did feel mighty comfortable right now, though, packed under a thick blanket and huddled up with her favorite idiot. Her body was tired, but her brain just wouldn't shut up.

He burrowed into the crown of her head and she giggle. The doofus really did like messing with her hair. "Want me to help you sleep?"

He didn't wait for an answer. Instead, she felt something tug at her mana, just like yesterday when he'd asked her to reach out. She could see green glowing veins race up Ben's arm, his eyes glowing a deep green as well, and before she could even think she felt her mana reach out for him, as if on instinct, and latch on to those pathways beneath his skin, tracing the branches of the Omnitrix all throughout him.

Ben's own fatigue washed over her now like a warm blanket, and she could feel her brain slow down in real time. "Cheater." She got out, with a jaw cracking yawn. Ben just gave her a lazy smile and nuzzled her face, the sensation feeling slightly prickly because the mana under her skin was reaching for the network of machinery under his.

It wasn't a bad prickle, though, even if sharing sensations like this was still out of this world weird. Then again, it was brought about by mixing alien tech with magic. 'Out of this world' was kind of a given at that point. At least they didn't accidentally zap each other like when they first tried this on their date.

She didn't even try to resist sleep taking her, the last thing she saw being glowing green eyes.

* * *

"Honey I'd hardly recognize you if I passed you in the street!" Aunt Sandra tittered, giving Gwen an amused look across the kitchen table. Gwen, for her part, just blushed with a sheepish grin, looking down at her state of dress. She'd brought along some essentials, but she'd neglected to bring an actual shirt and pants. So it was either going with the leotard she'd worn under her robes yesterday, the robes themselves… or borrow some of Ben's clothing.

She'd gone for the latter; he hadn't been around to stop her after all. Her boyfriend had popped up out of a dead sleep early in the morning, babbling something about promising grandpa something and that he couldn't believe he'd forgotten so quickly while stumbling about.

Gwen had only sat up in bed, feeling slightly cheated as he'd struggled into his pants. So much for lazy morning cuddles, but a deep kiss square on the lips in lieu of a regular 'goodbye' was awesome enough to make up for it.

Now, two hours later, she'd just finished breakfast and was catching up with her family; something she'd rarely done in the past because catching up with her aunt and uncle meant that _Ben _was there and if Ben was there, it meant that Gwen probably wasn't in the best of moods.

Oh boy, had _that _running gag done a complete one-eighty.

"I know!" Gwen groaned. "I look like a total doofus." She hadn't even bothered to put her hairclips in. Paired with some of Ben's spare jeans and a shirt that was more creases than clothing, she looked nothing like herself. But what was even worse then that was that she was totally fine with it, even if his pants were a little tight around the hips.

It was official. She'd lost her mind.

She heard the front door open and close, and felt her heart do a little jump. Inwardly, she scoffed at herself. _Really? That's all it takes? I used to have standards._

Then again, they couldn't have been that stellar to begin with, considering she settled for the biggest doofus on the face of the Earth. When said doofus appeared in the kitchen, his eyes immediately zeroed in on her, giving her a smirk. "What, still here? Shouldn't you be getting back to your precious homework?" He teased.

She smirked right back, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the way he was looking at her. Oh, it wasn't that she minded him looking at her like she was the only thing that mattered in the room. It was the fact that it was so _obvious _that it made her nervous.

Her father might have some suspicions. Her mom would only believe it when she couldn't deny it anymore, and then there'd be hell to pay. But they had had some interactions with Ben and Gwen like this, more than aunt Sandra and Uncle Carl anyway. In a way, Ben being more blatant was as good a way as any to get them to 'catch up'.

Their family was going to need to know there was _something_ going on between them without really knowing what it was, or how deep and, as per their friends' suggestion, they had to convince them that this something was a _good_ thing. She wasn't sure how they were going to do all that. It was an awful lot of subtlety and juggling and trying to outsmart adults. They'd done all of that plenty of times, but still.

There was some distance between theory and practice here.

She stood from her chair, turning to face him fully, a smirk gracing her features. "Figured I'd stick around to steal the love of your parents. The poor things are starved for an intelligent conversation with anyone other than themselves."

Ben stepped forward, crossing his arms, sweat glistening on the side of his face. Whatever he'd been doing with grandpa, it wasn't just talk. And judging by the way he was favoring his left leg, she had her suspicions. "And steal my clothing too, I see. And you're just jealous that your mother likes me better than you." He teased back.

Gwen snorted derisively. "Puh-lease, she just thinks you're _salvageable_. I know better."

Ben grinned, shuffling closer again. "Pretty sure that means she's given up on you, if she thinks she can move on to salvage project 'me'. That's gotta hurt." Oof. Low blow. Good one.

Gwen tilted her chin up haughtily, looking down her nose at him, channeling her best superior brow arching. She'd already been a master, but spending more time with her mother and with Anna recently, she was confident she nailed it even better nowadays.

"Wrong way around doofus: I'm already perfect. She's moving on to bigger challenges now." She trailed her eyes up and down his lithe frame, from his sloppy state of dress to his mussed up hair. At least, that's probably what it looked like to Ben's parents. She also took in the tautness of his arms, the mischief in his grin and his _ridiculously_ appealing flush. "_Way_ bigger challenges."

He grinned. "I'm worth it!" He teased, _winking _at her the cheeky little- "And I don't know about 'perfect'," Ben mused, closing the distance to hover right in front of her, both of them still studiously ignoring his parents. "You try, but I just can't get passed that _hair_." Hair that he loved. She knew it. He knew it. He knew that she knew it.

A part of her really wanted kiss him senseless right about now, just because that smirk was _begging_ for it. Another part wanted to jump apart, to cover up, to break the tension they were having. But most of her wanted to do as Anna had suggested and somehow show their family that they were better together than apart, just as they'd shown their friends.

The thing was, they already knew that they were. It was getting them to think about them as a_ couple_ and be okay with it; _that_ was the challenge. And if they succeeded, maybe, just maybe, that would convince them not to try and pull them apart when the time came to come clean.

Because it was a 'when.' Grandpa hadn't just been right about them slipping up when it came to their hero story; they were also starting to slip on _their _story. A large part of that was because they only discovered after the fact that they were basically acting like a couple before ever even kissing, but the reasons didn't really matter: they weren't going to be able to keep this a secret forever. Lizzie had probably summed it up best when she said that, if they hadn't been cousins, their parents would already have seen it easily and be sending out wedding invitations.

Her and Ben seemed to be in the clear for now, but there was only so much they'd write off, and Gwen was determined to have won them over before they realized what they were looking at.

Speaking of which, Sandra cleared her throat while uncle Carl, leaning against the kitchen counter, gave them an amused look. "Do we need to give you two a minute alone?" He asked, eyes dancing like grandpa Max's always did when he teased. With him, it always meant he wasn't taking the situation seriously at all; which probably meant he thought that Ben and Gwen hadn't noticed that they were inches apart.

They'd had plenty of spats in the past where they got up in each others faces, and recently they had obviously been more lenient with personal space. It had mostly been her parents that had been exposed to that, though. Had it been her parents in this moment, they _would_ likely have jumped apart. It's what her brain told her to do. It's what his brain told him to do as well, probably.

Ben had always been good at ignoring his brain, and Gwen gave it a shot too. So rather than jump apart, they just turned their heads to their parents. "I think we're good so long this doofus remembers that he's in reach of my karate skills." Gwen remarked, dryly, elbowing her cousin. He just snickered.

His parents snickered as well, probably thinking she was referring to Ben's habit to pull pranks. She totally wasn't, but she had to admit that there was a strange sort of fun in having an inside joke. It made the knot in her stomach ease somewhat.

"Had fun with your grandfather?" Sandra asked, slightly forced. Gwen almost winced. She'd hoped that grandpa convincing them to seek help and the fact that Ben was doing better would help reconcile the old man and his daughter in law. Clearly, she still had reservations.

Ben gave them all a big grin. "Yeah, it was great! Had to get up super early though..."

Gwen snorted. "You're telling me. You woke me up when you nearly knocked me out of bed." She grumbled. Uncle Carl quirked an amused brow at her while aunt Sandra hid a grin behind her hand.

"You _did_ notice we put out a cot for you, right?" The man questioned. Gwen very nearly snorted. Secret romance with her cousin or not (and how weird was her life that _that _was actually a thing?), they _really_ should know by now that Ben and Gwen preferred having each other as close as possible when they slept.

At least that way, when either of them woke from a nightmare, they'd immediately know that the other was safe and sound. Even after what felt like years, Gwen still reached for her phone when she woke up alone in those moments.

Just do be sure. Just to know that he wasn't off somewhere staring at a ticking time bomb and hadn't left her alone-

"Yeah, I saw it." She remarked, casually, shaking off the thought. Before either adult could pursue the point, Ben busted out a jaw cracking yawn and sagged against her back, cheek resting against her hair. Gwen couldn't stop a smile even if the snuggle was over the top obvious. Idiot doofus. Always knew exactly what to do.

"All this talk of beds makes me sleepy..." He mumbled. Gwen just exhaled, reaching up to pet his head with a fond smile, turning her own to plant a kiss on the side of his. She gave his parents a helpless look.

"See what I gotta deal with here?"

Aunt Sandra just shook her head. "Honestly, you two are just ridiculous." She complained in good humor. Gwen felt Ben's snicker tickling against her neck and she did her utmost to not visibly shiver. She was pretty sure that if she gave into that, she'd, well…

Well she wouldn't just kiss him. She was smart enough not to do _that. _She'd just drag him upstairs and kiss him there without any prying eyes.

...that probably wouldn't be any better. It'd still be a little more on the nose than she wanted to be.

Uncle Carl shook his head fondly at the room at large, stepping forward to place his hands on his wife's shoulders, smiling down at her. "Let them be, babe. They need all the affection they can get." _Ah, so that's where Ben found that nickname._

Sandra turned her head, glancing up at the large man, grinning mischievously, and Gwen very nearly facepalmed. _And that's where he got that __mischievous __grin._"I might need some too..." The woman pouted, crossing her arms, giving her husband an endearing look and, for real, just swap the hair color and have a _slightly_ different shade of green and she was pretty sure she'd be glomping the woman herself out of sheer force of habit.

She felt a quick nip at the back of her neck, Ben's way of letting her know that he knew exactly what she was thinking and she pointedly did _not _look back at him. She knew he was giving her the exact same look his mother was throwing around. She did pinch his thigh, though, because even with the adults distracted, _no nipping you little freak. _

But as uncle Carl's eyes softened Gwen could feel Ben turn green behind her. "Oh no, they're gonna get chummy." He moaned before his father leaned in for a deep kiss on Sandra's lips. Gwen ignored the adults, instead looking over her shoulder at the doofus, confident that she could face him now.

"So do my parents, and you weren't moaning then, you big baby."

"Those are _your__s_. Not the same."

She patted his cheek before pushing him away with the same hand. "I think it's cute." She asserted, putting her hands on her hips.

"It's gross." He shot back when he righted himself beside her, pointedly looking anywhere but his parents.

"I'm not complaining!" Sandra exclaimed cheerfully. Ben gagged in response, looking like he'd swallowed a lemon, causing the others in the room to laugh.

Gwen gave her doofus a teasing look before shifting her gaze to his parents with a wistful sigh. She saw him twitch nervously from the corner of her eye. "I hope I have something like that someday." She mused, delighted to see him twitch again beside her, head snapping back and forth between her and his parents before he stilled.

The dry, foul look he gave her was priceless. She quirked a brow in challenge. _Oh yeah, I am so raising the stakes, freakazoid._

His eyes narrowed. _I am so taking you up on that, cootie queen._

Aunt Sandra actually gasped at her, pulling her from her non-verbal discussion with the doofus. "I knew Frank's romantic heart was in there!" She cheered, sounding delighted. Uncle Carl just facepalmed with a grin, inching back from his wife; though never straying far.

"The one trait you get from that man..." He grumbled. Gwen turned a teasing grin their way, raising a hand to stage whisper.

"Oh it's not just my dad. Mom can be a total sucker for it too."

The two adults gave her scandalized shocks. "Say it ain't so!" Carl exclaimed. Gwen could only nod solemnly.

"It's true." Ben admitted with a sigh beside her. "Bunch of saps, this entire family."

Sandra leaned forward, brushing her blonde hair out of her face, quirking a brow at the boy, who shrunk back from it with a suspicious look. "Does that mean you're going to be alone forever? Because I'd like grandkids at some point, young man." She teased her son.

Ben was not to be outdone though, even if Gwen felt strangely put on the spot by the comment. He simply shrugged, jabbing a thumb at the girl, and her heart skipped a beat in anticipation because she felt he was going to say something stupid-

"I'm just about married to this know-it-all already. Get a girlfriend on top of that? No thanks. I've got enough crazy girls in my life."

...or something cleverly joking which you_ can_ read too much into but can just as easily take at face value. And given the pointed glance he shot her… yeah. Her doofus was doing something here.

"It's not exactly the same though, is it?" Aunt Sandra mused in challenge.

Ben just looked back at her and said nothing. And continued to say nothing, only staring at his mother in adorable confusion, and Gwen had to use all her considerable willpower not to burst out laughing as she saw both parents start to slowly shift nervously. Even if she felt a bit uncertain about what he was trying to do here.

"Oh!" The boy exclaimed, snapping his fingers. "You mean because we're not together, right?" He asked, innocent as the day he was born (which was about as innocent as your run of mill demon, as far as Gwen was concerned), gesturing between him and Gwen.

"Yes!" Sandra enthused, sounding more than a little relieved. _Oh woman, are you in for a rough wake up._

Uncle Carl chuckled ruefully. "I get that it sometimes feels like that, little man, but it's not quite the same."

Ben quirked a brow at that and turned to give her a long considering look, one that clearly said _work with me here, dweeb_. Rolling with it, despite feeling her stomach tie itself into knots of nervousness, she eyed him back with the same thoughtful air about her, taking it as an excuse to trail her eyes up and down him briefly.

...okay, she liked what she saw. Feeling what he wanted to do, even if she didn't quite get why, she mimicked him.

Their gazes met again, and Ben snickered. "Yeah right. Can you imagine me together with this nerd?" Ben asked his folks, gesturing toward her grandiosely.

It clicked and Gwen almost laughed out loud. _Stupid, insufferable, brilliant doofus. _

She shuddered, leaning away from the boy, giving him a look askance. "That'd never work." She agreed. "We are like, super _not_ compatible. At all." They certainly didn't used to be. Nowadays, the story was a little different.

"I tolerate the cuddles. That's it." He elaborated, looking like he was trying to convince himself more than anything.

Gwen rolled with that too, grimacing. "And no way am I _ever _kissing that ugly mug." She said that, even if she knew her gaze lingered a _little _too long on his face as she did.

"Hey!" Aunt Sandra interrupted, seeming more out of instinct than anything. "I worked hard on that mug!"

Never one to leave a joke hanging, Ben went severely cross-eyed, poked out his tongue and saluted. Gwen took it in with the most neutral expression she could muster.

It was tough going and she totally expected props for it later. She turned back to her aunt. "Yeah, _great_ craftsmanship." Ben swatted her arm for that one as Sandra spluttered her protest.

She swatted back automatically, turning back to the boy- and stopped when she just caught him looking at her with a critical eye, way more intense than the look before, and longer too. It lingered on her face, and she mirrored the gesture. In the context of what they'd just said, she could _hear_ the subtext loud and clear, so loud that she was sure Ben's parents could hear it as well.

_Can you imagine _us_ together? _

The boy swallowed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I think I'm just going get a shower." Which was as lame an excuse to get out of there, because Ben rarely did showers if he could avoid it. And he knew that they all knew it. "Walk to your house afterwards? Pretty sure we can make it easily before your school starts."

And he could easily make it to his school from her house in time as well; disregarding that they could speed the journey up whenever they wanted to. She nodded, licking her lips. She didn't have to fake feeling a little flustered. "Sounds good to me."

With another lingering look the boy moved out of the room and up the stairs. Gwen breathed out a sigh as he took the tension with him and turned back to face his parents- ah. Well, they'd noticed the tension too. She was met by two adults whose brains seemed to have gone into overdrive.

It was hilarious and terrifying at the same time._Well, guess that's one ball rolling. _

"Err, I think I better go pack my stuff." She backed off. "You know, the doofus only showers for like five seconds so I better be quick about it- bye!" With that she raced off and up the stairs, grinning to herself.

Those two were going to be thinking about this _all day_ without them ever, explicitly, letting on that they were a thing but hinting like crazy that they _could _be. And Ben had played it _perfectly_. Spotting him near the bathroom door, and estimating that they had a good two minutes before one of his parents came to 'check up on them' she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly.

"That," she whispered, pulling back, "was do that more often." She knew for a fact that Ben could be very clever when he put his mind to it, especially when it came to strategy, and it was clear that that's how he had approached this here and, well...

It probably said a lot about her that she was incredibly attracted to him when he'd just pulled a very manipulative little stunt on his parents. Same way he got a little weak in the knees whenever she did magic, she supposed. Whatever. Clever Ben was hot Ben.

Her cousin seemed satisfied himself, if a little dazed, at the gesture. "If you reward me like _that_ every time, you bet I'm doing this every day."

* * *

"I think we could win my dad over if we'd try the same strategy." She mused. "But my mom..."

"Your mom will kill me the second she knows."

"She won't kill you." She waved him off. That aside, her mother did present a problem, though not really in the way Ben seemed to think. What they were doing with the rest of the family was trying to warm them up to the idea of them being together, of leaving breadcrumbs. But that wouldn't work with her mom. "Though I'm not sure how we're going to handle her." She admitted.

At Ben's quizzical look, she elaborated. "I mean, what we just did with your parents, won't work with mine."

Ben looked ahead, chewing his lip in thought. After a few seconds, he hesitantly contested the point. "I think it might work on your dad. He might have an idea anyway." He finished, looking sheepish and more than a little guilty.

She gave him a glare. "What did you do?"

"Nothing!" He defended, holding up his hands. She walked around him to stand in front of him, stopping the boy in his tracks, crossing her arms. He looked around nervously before giving up, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "...we _may_ have bonded over red hair. Once or twice… ish."

Gwen facepalmed. "Boys. Can't trust you to be subtle about anything."

"Hey, we just totally pulled a subtle on my parents!"

"Beside the point, and you know it." She retorted, bluntly, worrying her index finger between her teeth. "Okay. If my dad thinks something is up, than he's probably told mom. But seeing as you're still breathing, we can assume she talked him out of believing it, and probably doesn't believe it herself."

Ben seemed very relieved at the deduction for a few seconds before he paled as the clues fell into place. "Which means that if we start dropping hints-"

"My mom's gonna catch on quick." She finished, slumping a little, posture be damned. Her mom finding out before they'd swayed the rest of the family would mean… well that wouldn't go well. She'd kick up a fuss as soon as she thought whatever they were having was real, and that would bring things to a head before they wanted to. "So she can't find out before _everyone_ else is won over."

The look Ben gave her was so flat that Anna would be proud. "...so we just need to keep our thing a secret from a woman who's smarter than both of us put together-"

"You're not putting much weight in the scale there, doofus."

"-while we try to clue _literally everyone_ around her in on the fact that this is happening." Ben surmised, ignoring her jibe.

...when put like that, it was a pretty tall order for two ten year olds. She grimaced, nodding. Ben just looked at her silently for a few long seconds before he chuckled.

"I am _so_ dead."

Gwen rolled her eyes. "I keep telling you: she won't kill you. Heck, how do you know _your_ mom isn't gonna go ballistic on me-" Wait. "Your parents are thinking now." Gwen realized, feeling dread pool in her stomach. "What if _they_ tell mom what they're thinking-?" Because that would be a breadcrumb the size of an anvil dropping straight on her mother's head-

Ben snorted. "Our parents don't talk to each other, remember? At least not about things like this."

Gwen didn't respond, mind whirling. She placed a hand on her hip and raised the other to massage her temple.

If they _did _talk… they'd have to act fast. Gwen wanted to groan. Brilliant as Ben's stunt had been, it wasn't the best idea in hindsight. Not before they'd thought it through. They should have discussed what they were going to do about her mother _before_ they'd pushed the ball downhill.

But maybe the boy was right. If they talked about anything, it wasn't about their love life, but about how the kids were doing psychologically. But talking about their mental health that was pretty much a no-go zone for as long as her mother was treating them, as they couldn't discuss it anyway-

Gwen felt her brain click. "I got it!" She exclaimed, eyes snapping up to meet to Ben- whose eyes were not focused on her face. Very not. "...are you checking me out?"

"...maybe?"

She spluttered, feeling her face heat because, sure, flattered, but- "C'mon Ben, _focus_!"

"I was focused!"

"On the problem at hand, not me!"

"What's there to focus on when you do your brain thing for five minutes straight- wait, you said you got it?" Ben's expression shifted from miffed to openly curious in all of half a second. Gwen almost groaned. _Can be brilliant, __sure,__ but still has the attention span of a fruit fly._

She was about to tell him when she felt nervousness rise up in her. "Err, yeah. I do."

When she failed to elaborate, he looked at her curiously for a few seconds before his eyes narrowed. Now it was his turn to lean in with a miffed expression, and he somehow managed to loom over her despite still being shorter. She grinned in his face, innocent as she could be. His left eye twitched. "I'm not going to like this at all, am I?"

Gwen winced. "Sorry."

The boy sighed before giving her a long look. "Alright dweeb, hit me. What ya got?"

* * *

"Nervous?" Her mother asked as she put down a tray of tea, pouring some for Gwen. Accepting the cup, Gwen grinned ruefully, perched on the edge of the couch seat.

"That obvious?"

The woman's eyes twinkled with subdued amusement. "Ben's not the only one who can read your tells."

_Probably the only one that can read them correctly, though. _

They'd gotten the pleasantries out of the way already, how the party had gone (just fine, her friends were awesome), how she was doing today (also fine, it was always easier with the doofus there) and if she wanted a drink.

They were going to get started. Gwen was trying very hard not to bolt.

Her mother sat down on her own couch, looking at Gwen over the rim of her teacup as she inhaled the scent of her tea. She quirked a smile. "_Usually,_ the first session is dedicated to getting to know each other." The expression turned coy. "Perhaps even more so than with Ben, though, I think it's safe to say that we're pretty familiar." The woman quirked a brow at Gwen, inviting her to add to this, and it took all Gwen's willpower not to just nod meekly and agree.

She took a steadying breath. This wasn't _just_ her mother, this was her therapist. And she was there to _help_. And Gwen _needed_ help. She needed to remember these things.

But she also needed her mother.

Tricky.

She swallowed. Might as well get the ball rolling, it wasn't like this could wait anyway, not if they were as on the clock as Gwen feared. But if anything her mother had taught her, it was that you could hope for the best but always prepare for the worst. She needed to heed those words.

"What if we're not? Familiar, I mean." The girl asked, eyeing her mother intently, leaving a myriad of other questions she could have asked unspoken. What if she only thought she knew Gwen, as opposed to really knowing her? What if she only knew parts, but missed other important bits?

She didn't need to vocalize these and others. Even if she could sometimes doubt her mother emotional aptitude, she was a darn good psychologist for a reason. She could tell what Gwen was asking.

Natalie stilled, cocking her head slowly, eyeing Gwen intently in return, and the smaller redhead prepared herself mentally for the woman to scoff for even suggesting that she wouldn't know her _own daughter_-

"Then this will be a learning experience." She concluded, simply. "We've already talked about how my perspective might be biased, and that this is both a blessing and a curse." Her mother put down her cup, leaning forward intently. "So if there's things that you think I _need_ to know, even if you think I should already know them, tell me."

Gwen licked her lips, inwardly relieved._ Alright, going in the right direction here._"Even if you won't _like_ what you'll hear?" Let her think Gwen was talking about criticisms of the way she'd raised her or something. It was never too early to start being a teenager, right?

The older woman relaxed in her seat, even if Gwen could tell it was forced. She'd seen Ben hide his worry often enough. She knew feigned relaxation when she saw it. She'd seen it in the mirror, too. "Even if I won't like to hear it as a mother. I'm here as your therapist _first_, your mother _second_. You getting better is my priority, so if you need to tell me something for that to happen, tell me."

Gwen put her own cup down, eyes intense. "And you won't treat me differently for it?" She pressed, desperately wanting to know this. "And you won't tell anyone else?"

Natalie's gaze softened, and she leaned back on her couch. She thought she'd caught on. She probably hadn't, not quite at least.

"Pumpkin, I want you to feel better, and I'll do what is needed to achieve that." She said tenderly, and Gwen understood that for just a brief second this was her mother talking, not her therapist. But for all that tenderness there was a fierce affection that caught Gwen off guard. She was used to that from grandpa Max, from Ben (Ben practically turned it into an art), even her father-

But it wasn't a common thing from her mother at all, and Gwen could feel her father influence at work here. He'd always been pressing her mother to be more open about that she cared for Gwen; not just in the clinical 'you have a roof over your head and support you' sort of way, but emotionally. She'd heard them fight over it often enough.

It was really nice to hear, and Gwen wished she didn't have to soldier passed it, as she'd much rather have lingered in that feeling for a solid week.

She bit her lip. "I need this. Just like Ben does." Gwen admitted, averting her eyes to the tea on the table, watching the dark liquid glimmer in the late noon sun. "I still feel like a crazy person for needing it, but I do. Just knowing how the panic attacks work has helped us both so much-" She cut herself off. Stick to the script, Tennyson. You can ramble later. That's what these sessions are for, but _this_ _one_ is not.

"But I _need_ to be sure that I can tell you anything," She raised her gaze, looking her mother in the eye imploringly. "and that I won't be judged for it, treated differently, and that it won't leave this room. Even if it's things you don't like. Even if it's things you _hate_."

Natalie raised a brow, comprehension dawning. "You want a clean separation of my roles." She surmised. "You want to tell me everything you need to, and be sure that it won't matter outside of these sessions- at least not for _us,_" She gestured between them, "as mother and daughter. Is that what you're asking?"

_Yes yes yes, please let that be the case-_

The woman nodded, taking her silence as the confirmation it was. "As we already discussed, I can share my findings with Max, but you can revoke this for any topic, session, or entirely whenever you want to. This seems to be one of those, so I'm not sharing what I hear today, or any day, with anyone until you confirm I can." Her lips quirked. "And I won't treat you, or anyone else, different because of what you tell me. So don't worry, I won't go grill your grandfather because he wasn't there when you needed him. Or for the garbage he fed you."

Not the family member she was worried about, but it did illustrate the point. She nodded, satisfied. "Thanks, mom. Err, Mrs. Tennyson."

Natalie waved her off. "Whichever works for you." The woman's expression turned studious. Hesitating for a moment, she moved on. "What is this about, Gwen? Even if I don't know you as well as I may have assumed, it's pretty clear you're leading into something here."

She picked up her tea, sipping it, trying to feign calmness and get the shakiness in her hands under control, all while feeling cold sweat trickle down her back. Her lips worked for several long seconds, and darn it she'd just about rehearsed this when she was doing schoolwork on autopilot today and it shouldn't be this hard!

"B-Because some things, I _want_ to tell you. As my mother." She bit her lip and- screw it. She wanted to do this as a calm collected adult person, or as close as she could manage- but this was her _mother_. And she really, really didn't want to have to hide that she was terrified. "But I _can't_." She finished in a whisper, and for the first time in the conversation, she felt genuinely lost.

Not because she had no idea where the conversation was headed, or even that her mom was throwing her for a loop, but because it dawned on her how messed up her life really was; and that really drove home how out of her depth she was.

Her mother reached across the salon table, placing a comforting hand on Gwen's knee; a privilege, Gwen knew, no normal therapist could get away with. She almost wanted to smile. Yes, having it be her mother was a bit weird and hard, but it did have some great advantages.

And Gwen had to admit, she'd rarely felt so cared for by her mother. This was the longest time they'd ever talked about how she was doing without it involving school in… ever. That alone almost made this all worth it.

"Tell me."

Gwen exhaled a shuddering breath, sucking it right back in to steel her nerves, not quite feeling them harden like she wanted to. Her mother wouldn't let it leave this room. She wouldn't treat Gwen differently. She wouldn't act on it. She knew her mother well enough to know that Natalie did not take these things lightly; she'd keep her word. Gwen knew this, but she was still so very scared...

_"A hero doesn't run away from a fight. A hero doesn't cower in his bed. A hero doesn't take the easy way out."_ ...she was a hero too, and if her doofus could face his greatest fear, she could do this.

She looked her mother in the eye. "There's a boy."

* * *

A/N: Hope it was somewhat worth the wait. Sorry that this chapter was really relationship heavy rather than psychology heavy (I know a sizeable chunk of my readers finds that angle the more interesting one). Pity I can only have two genres, because I wouldn't mind adding a family genre to this. Either way, I hope you enjoyed. I'll try to keep a somewhat consistent update schedule and hope that I don't get smacked by another writers block.

If some of you are wondering 'gee, aren't Ben and Gwen kind of underestimating how much the adults already suspect and the level of communications between them about this potential romance between them?' Why yes, they are. They're **ten**. That really does explain it all, unfortunately.


	19. Chapter 19: Telling

Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10. I would make Anna and Lizzie canon so hard, you wouldn't believe.

A/N: so as of this chapter all the metrics for this chapter (favorites, reviews and follows) cleared the 300; with follows even clearing the 400. I'm sorta dazed at the amount of attention and support this fic has received. Thank you all very much!

Guest1910: That pun physically hurt me, you monster XD

* * *

Ben grinned to himself as he made his way out of school, gait quick and excited. In his hands was a piece of paper, held so tight that it was nearly crumpled. He felt a happy little shake run through him, eyes scrunching shut.

He knew that a 79 percent score on a math test wasn't all that super when compared to Gwen- or even Anna for that matter. But to _him_, it was huge. He almost understood why Gwen liked school so much; when he actually worked his butt off and saw a tangible reward for it, it made a lot of difference. Not that he'd consider a good grade a reward normally; whats a number on a paper good for anyway? But he needed those numbers to be good if he was going to make it into her school.

It felt _good_ to progress towards a goal he'd set. Though he was never, ever telling Gwen that he was starting to like doing well and school, even if it wasn't for the sake of his grades in and of themselves. She'd never let him live it down, nor would she ever let him forget that he was doing it so he could be closer to her. Or she'd offer to tutor him. Which would basically mean they'd _never_ get anything done because-

...maybe that wouldn't be that bad, he considered as his face heated. Having her around a little more often couldn't hurt; he definitely wanted it. They could have fun. Play video games together, perhaps train, or just actually study (if anyone could make that fun, it was Gwen).

And they could perhaps kiss some more. He wouldn't be against that. But his grades would probably not improve as much as he needed them to. And that mattered now.

Tricky.

Part of him wanted to run over to her house to gloat, he was gonna go there anyway, but he stopped with a grimace. Gwen's school had ended earlier than his. She would be in session with her mom right about now.

...yeah, maybe it was a better idea to double back and let Anna and Lizzie catch up to him; he'd just about bolted out of the classroom in his excitement to get to Gwen and show her he did have a brain. That had gotten him an, erm, motivating reward two days ago.

Okay so he just really wanted to kiss her again. She was his girlfriend. That was normal, right? Right.

His phone vibrated in his pocket, snapping him from his musings as he froze for several long seconds before he scrambled to retrieve it, heart racing and mind reeling. Was Gwen in trouble? Had the session gone sour? Was she calling him to warn him that her mother was going to hunt him down? Had it gone right and they had nothing to worry about-?

"Everything alright, babe?" He asked as soon as he picked up. Silence met his question before a snort of laughter echoed over the line. A snort of laughter that definitely did _not_ sound like his dweeb-

_Well… shit. _

"Alas," grandpa Max remarked, amusement coloring his tone. "I'm not the _pretty girl _you hoped for." He teased before his tone abruptly shifted to seriousness. "Sorry to cut the pleasantries short, son, but we have a problem." The shifting of tech on the other end of the line was audible. "My scanners are picking up one of Vilgax's drones. I'd go check it out, but I'm a few towns over meeting a coworker..." The man explained.

Ben took a fortifying breath, forcing down a twinge of panic. "You want me to go check it out?" He asked. He had to give himself credit for not stuttering.

He didn't need to see grandpa Max to know that the man had nodded. "Yes. According to all my scans, the machine is idle. I'm not even sure if it's fully functioning, but we still need to be certain. I'll send you the coordinates-" Ben glared into the reciever. "-err, right. Good point. Uhm, it's the park on 32nd street, you know the one…?"

Park on 32nd street… "Oh! Yeah! Cash once tossed me into a basketball hoop there. I was stuck for like half an hour." Memo to self: get revenge on Cash.

Grandpa did not linger on that. The old man knew plenty about all the times Ben had gotten bullied in the past. Contrary to his parents, he at least _asked_. "Can you go check it out? I'd call Gwen to accompany you but..." Gwen's phone was off, Ben knew. And it wouldn't be a good idea to interrupt her session anyway, and grandpa knew that. Even if he didn't know why that was even more important for this particular session.

"It's fine; I'm stronger than ever, remember? I'll give Vilgax a nice show to remind him why he'd better not show his squidface here again."

Grandpa was silent across the line for a moment. "...alright, but be careful. This is Vilgax we're talking about."

Ben swallowed, silently conceding the point. The last thing you wanted to do was underestimate Vilgax. Hanging up the phone, he exhaled a breath before looking down at the watch, feeling dread pool in his stomach. If the squid was back, that meant the nightmare would start all over again. Part of him had hoped that Vilgax had just given up- that Way Big would scare him off forever.

But it seemed the monster was back. He looked at the dial, and it flashed orange in his mind, heart stopping for a brief second as it did. He closed his eyes, sucking in a shuddering breath.

He exhaled it again, fighting back tears. He couldn't melt down now. He had to make sure this drone was not a prelude to _worse_, that they were all safe-

That _she_ was safe. He opened his eyes. The dial was green. He was fine. He strode forward in search of a quiet spot to shift into XLR8.

* * *

Coming to a halt in the undergrowth on the edge of the large park, Ben paused, looking around. Not a lot of people about at this time of day, just some families with children too young for school and the elderly.

Slapping his tail onto the ground once in agitation, he closed his eyes and shifted from XLR8 to Grey Matter, taking a moment to overcome the sense of vertigo that the sudden shift in perception brought. Doing so with his eyes closed made it less jarring-

His backpack fell on top of him and he squeaked. Right. Backpacks didn't shift along with his transformation. But his clothing did. Pity he never got around to asking Azmuth about that.

In all likelihood, the old Galvan had just programmed it like that out of spite. Squirming out from under the pack, he groaned. For once, he was so glad that Gwen wasn't around. She'd never, _ever _let him forget that one. He kicked the pack once in revenge, deciding to leave it until later. He estimated that the odds of it being stolen before he returned were less than three percent, and that was accounting for-

He shook his head, pulling his disparate thoughts back in line, and focused his enhanced brain on the task at hand- finding the drone grandpa mentioned, establish how dangerous it was and then defeat it. He hummed. He'd fought enough of the variants to know that he could take just about all of them on- getting in close and then latching on with Upgrade to mess up their systems was usually the cleanest way to do it. But for the smaller ones, brute force worked just as well.

As to finding it…

With a flash of green, he shifted into Wildmutt and sniffed the air, immediately stiffening as he did. There was a pretty distinct metallic smell coming from deep in the park. It was not moving, at least it didn't seem to be, and was pretty densely concentrated, so it was likely only one drone.

But the sharpness of the smell could only mean it was one of those big ones. And those were _never _easy… well, in his experience, anyway. He didn't think he ever fought one with master control on. Only one way to find out, he decided with a fanged grimace.

Committing the location to memory, he shifted into Ghostfreak and turned invisible, flying deeper into the park. He flinched under the pale winter sunlight, but it was manageable- even if every bit of him was screaming for him to go and hide someplace dark.

He just pretended that the sunlight was Gwen's mana tickling him and soldiered on. It was better than just zipping passed with XLR8 and likely crash straight into the drone, or worse: tip people off that something was up and draw them into the path of destruction. It wasn't a very _likely_ problem, he recognized, but still.

Large drones were hard enough without having to worry about bystanders, and he lost nothing by going slow and stealthy.

Coming up to where he'd smelled the scent coming from, his suspicions were confirmed. A giant drone, its bottom half buried in the ground in its rest mode waited in the clearing. Ben had to wonder when and how Vilgax had snuck the thing in there. If it had dropped here recently, people would have seen it fall. Bellwood wasn't large, but not exactly small either. It wasn't the sticks.

So… he grit his spectral teeth. That probably meant this thing had been here well before grandpa picked it up.

That was _not _helping his mood. Seeming to notice him, the device started to shift into its attack mode. Ben didn't let it, instead racing up and shifting into Upgrade when he reached it, immediately latching on-

The red metal that comprised the drone's outer shell lit up in bright red and sent a powerful shockwave through him. With a cry of pain, he was thrown back, landing in a dazed puddle on the ground. He was given no time to recover as the drone unfolded to its full height and instantly closed the distance on him and shot its clawed arm out at him, slamming down so hard it caused a cloud of dust to erupt from the ground.

Ghostfreak phased through the claw, lone eye glaring. "So you have some new tricks." Ben hissed. "Well, so do I." Flying up to avoid a blind swipe of the drone, not that it would have harmed him in this form, Ben hovered far above it waiting for it to- there!

The drone bent its three legs, making to leap, and Ben moved to be directly in its path above it- and shifted into Diamondhead. Dropping like an anvil while sharpening as many angles of his body as he could, he met the drone halfway when it jumped, the collision damaging the drone's casing and sending them both down to the ground _hard_, further damaging its shell_._

Knowing that _that_ was likely going to garner some attention, Ben knew he had to act fast. Shifting into XLR8 before he hit the ground, he raced over to the recovering drone as soon as he landed and shifted into Upgrade once more.

Extending into the now exposed inner workings of the robot, he was relieved to find that its Upgrade shielding didn't protect those parts. As he started tearing it apart from the inside out, a flash of light overtook his consciousness and he stilled, finding himself in a dark, seemingly endless space as just Ben, a lone light hovering in front of him being the only way he could see himself at all. It reminded him of a campfire in a forest.

"What the heck…?" He mused aloud, feeling an eerie sense of familiarity- a sense that was justified when the darkness on the other side of the light shifted and Vilgax emerged, menacing as ever. Ben glared, gritting his teeth, fighting down dread. Right. He remembered now. Vilgax was connected to his drones, and linking with them could lead to an encounter like this. Ben grinned, all teeth. "We have _got_ to stop meeting like this."

The gigantic monster lumbered lazily around the light, and Ben moved along with him, circling the luminous orb between them, never taking his eyes of Vilgax. The squidface scoffed under his mask, seeming amused. "You will meet me properly soon enough, Tennyson." He hissed. "And when you do, I will take-"

"Blah blah blah." Ben cut him off. "Yeah yeah, steal the Omnitrix, mass produce it, make an army, win." He gave the large creature a bemused look. "Never could figure out how that was a good idea. You get your ass handed to you by just _one _of me. If even two of your 'super soldiers' go rogue, you're out of luck."

Ben had expected the monster to grow enraged or boastful at the suggestion that he could be defeated so easily or was that stupid. Instead, he laughed. That was far, far more disturbing. "You know nothing of the power of that machine, _boy. _It is far more than a mere tool for transformation."

Ben was about to ask what he meant when he froze, the halls and doors of the Omnitrix flashing through his mind's eye until it finally settled on a lingering, painful to recall image of the core, pulsing with an utter emptiness that wasn't empty, rimmed by a brightness that could be _anything_-

Vilgax halted with a hum, cocking his large head. "Maybe you _do _know..." He mused, sounding intruiged.

Ben wanted to ask what the squid knew about the core, why he really wanted the Omnitrix at all- but instead bared his teeth. "Tough luck, Villy." The boy teased, holding up the watch and letting its power race up his veins, illuminating them as well as his eyes. "Unless you suddenly have a way to get through Way Big, you're never getting this."

Vilgax laughed, and Ben could feel the world around them start to crumble. Seemed the drone was dying; Ben was pretty sure he was still subconsciously ripping it to shreds. "Who said I'd be getting there through _you, _Tennyson?" He returned, radiating malicious amusement. "You have so many little weak spots after all." He purred, and Ben felt his blood run cold. The monster chuckled. "Better take good care of them, thief, for when I return, I will come for_ all_ of you." The monster stepped over to close the distance and leaned down to hiss at him. "Including your _firefly_."

The world fell away and he found himself on his hands and knees in the clearing, surrounded by the remains of the drone, panting, sweating, panicking-

_No! _He had to get up- if Vilgax could smuggle one drone in, he could smuggle more in and he needed to get to Gwen he couldn't fail her again-

A flash of green turned him back into XLR8 and he raced away.

* * *

Natalie had been prepared for just about everything at this point. _Everything_, from Gwen coming out of the closet to her admitting to suffering from suicidal depression. She was expecting the unexpected, be it mundane or terrible. And she was prepared to face that and help Gwen through it.

"There's a boy." Gwen said, taking a breath. "That I _like_."

She hadn't been prepared for this.

She slowly retrieved her hand from Gwen's arm and sat back, mind running at a million miles an hour, two sides of her waging war. On the one hand there was the mother in her, that wanted to run with her instinctual reactions.

Because while she had clearly been blind, she was not stupid. There was only one boy on this planet that Gwen gave half a toss about, and it was the same one that Frank already suspected had a crush on Gwen. Natalie had been willing to entertain that much, but hadn't assumed the feeling was mutual, or deep.

Gwen had hated the boy for an even decade, after all, and could do better, even if Natalie's opinion of the boy was much improved lately. It made no sense for them to move from abject hatred, to friendship to _love _like this, even if it was puppy love. But clearly, she'd underestimated the odds. She worried what else she'd misjudged.

The mother in her wanted to put a stop to it. Right now. Tell Gwen that it was out off the question, call up Sandra and Carl to explain what was going on and take measures to put an end to this. There were hosts of reasons why falling in love with her cousin was a bad idea and as a parent it was her job to ensure that her child didn't make those sorts of mistakes.

But the therapist in her reeled that in _hard. _Because while Gwen could only be talking about Ben, Natalie didn't know how deep their affection went. If it would last. If it would _matter. _The fact that Natalie and Frank had been together since they were thirteen was not the norm, and projecting her oddities on Gwen was unwise. She didn't know how big of a problem this was.

But even if she did, Natalie realized with a strange mix of bitterness and pride, she likely couldn't do anything about it. Gwen had brought this up under patient confidentiality, and while there were loopholes around that, exploiting them would destroy the trust Gwen had in her, both as a therapist and as a mother.

And breaking that trust would take Ben's right along with it, leaving them right back where they started: with two hurt children who needed help. Only this time, they wouldn't let them help. That was an unacceptable risk. Natalie grit her teeth.

She exhaled, giving her daughter a dry look. "Well played, little carrot."

The girl actually smiled back, shy, cheeky, but also… hopeful. "I learned from the best."

"Flatterer." Natalie accused, picking up her cup of tea and taking a sip. Gwen mimicked her, never breaking the eye contact. On a surface level, it seemed like Gwen was being challenging. Natalie felt it was more about keeping an eye on her in case the little girl needed to bolt.

Natalie sighed, putting the cup down. "Why tell me this?" Well, obviously, because she wanted Natalie to know, but be incapable of mentioning it outside of this room. But there had to be a _reason_ for doing it like that. Gwen had clearly thought this through.

The girl swallowed, putting her cup down as well. This time she didn't meet Natalie's eyes, instead picking at a loose thread on the cushion next to her, a nervous habit that Gwen never quite seemed to shake. "Because I was hoping you'd accept it."

She was pretty sure that there were precious few parents in the States that jumped for joy at confessions such as these, much less accept it out of hand. Gwen knew that much, for sure. Still. She was a therapist right now. She had to navigate both her roles, as while Gwen had dropped this on her while in a session, she had also pretty explicitly said that she wanted her _mother _to know.

All while not letting one role influence the other. The girl didn't do easy requests. Natalie was already looking forward to the teen years at this rate. "I don't know what I'd be accepting, exactly, pumpkin." She remarked pointedly. Because Gwen hadn't said it yet, or given her any idea that this was deeper than a one-sided or mutual crush. Was this just that? Had Gwen merely realized her feelings? Had she acted on them? To what degree? She needed more information and more time to collect herself.

Gwen bit her lip before slowly lifting her eyes to meet Nat's. Moment of truth, it seemed, and the look on her face shifted to determination.

"That I'm together with Ben." She said, voice ringing like a bell, and a thousand things fell into place. The touches Natalie couldn't place, the lingering looks- the way they always seemed _just _shy of something else…

The way Gwen had looked at Ben a few days ago, after he'd comforted her, like he was the only thing in the room that mattered.

Natalie swallowed. Well, that answered some of those questions. Ben and Gwen were together; for any given value of that word. She could go ahead and test the validity of it, ask questions, try to persuade her that this was a bad idea. But there was every chance that Gwen had already thought of most of them and she honestly had different questions that needed answering first.

"Why tell me?" She asked again. "You want me to know, but not to do anything with it. I can appreciate that, from a strategic standpoint," even if it was a dirty move. That was a little of her grandfather rearing its head, that was for sure. "but why now? And why tell me if you want it to, effectively, make no difference?"

Gwen's sheepish grin was broad and her eyes twinkled with mirth and apprehension in equal measures. "Well, we figured that it was better you found out like this than to have uncle Carl and aunt Sandra tell you that we were eye-flirting."

Natalie quirked a brow, confused on multiple levels. "'Eye flirting'…?"

Gwen rubbed her cheek, thinking. "Uhm, you know what you and dad do over breakfast every Sunday? Sorta like that. What's that all about anyway?"

They were a few years too early to be having _that_ conversation, Natalie considered with no small amount of mortification. "I'll tell you when you're older." She deadpanned, taking a delicate sip of her tea, hoping her head was not flushing as red as her hair. She cleared her throat.

So, the kids were flirting. Given what she knew of herself, she'd likely have written off any story from either Sandra or Carl on this as hysteria, so Gwen may have jumped the gun on this one, but it was a fair enough concern-

"Wait," she put her cup down. "why were you flirting in front of your aunt and uncle?" Because she was pretty sure that Gwen was trying to _stop_ the family from finding out, hence why she'd tied Natalie's hands. This went against that grain entirely.

Gwen's expression was less sheepish this time. Her face was slightly apprehensive, and she again took a fortifying breath- something that worried Natalie. Not just because Gwen being this tightly wound was usually a prelude to breakdown down the line, but because Gwen had just told her that there was something going on between her and her cousin. What did she have left to be apprehensive about-?

"Because we're going to win them over." The girl blurted in a rush and Natalie froze.

...Gwen wasn't trying to _stop_ her aunt and uncle from finding out. She was stopping _Natalie_ from hindering them while they _let _them find out. Which meant-

"...this isn't just a small crush, is it?" She asked, voice smaller than she'd heard it in years.

"...no. No, it's not." Gwen admitted, a faint smile on her face and… okay, Natalie had to admit, that was a _very_ happy, smitten smile. Just about the only good thing about this. Gwen's expression sharpened, fire lighting in her eyes. "We're going to win you over." She repeated. "_All_ of you. We'll _show_ you that we work."

Natalie closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She didn't _want_ to be shown that they could work. This was wrong, on so many levels. They were children. They were cousins. Even if the family was willing to accept it, they'd be facing that stigma all their lives if they pursued this. And that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Her little girl had struggled enough. As her mother, she wanted to stop Gwen from inviting more misery upon herself. This could not stand, and if the kids did show Natalie that they could work, it would only make it more heartbreaking when they broke under the weight of it.

Natalie opened her eyes to pin her daughter with a hard stare. The girl did not flinch, nor did she drop her determined glare. But the woman could see the incremental shaking of the girl's hand as it worried at the edge of the cushion, could see the twitch of her lip as she struggled not to bite it.

She could see the tears shining in those huge green eyes.

Right now, both the therapist in her and the mother in her recognized that Gwen needed something else first. So she nodded. "Your secret's safe with me."

The way the girl sagged, some tension draining out of her, and her cool determination melted into tearful relief. Natalie gave the girl a moment to revel in it; she seemed to need it. She hadn't expected they'd be needing tissues in their first session, but she still passed the box to the little girl, who used it to wipe a stray tear.

Not one of sadness, but of relief, if the girl's grateful grin was anything to go by. "Thanks, mom."

Natalie flinched, hating herself right now. "Don't thank me yet." She returned, because as much as she wanted to meet the girl halfway here, she needed to be fair too. "I will do as you ask and not bring this up outside this room, or treat your and your _cousin_," she stressed the word, both to get her own head around the idea and to remind Gwen of the fact. Going by the foul look she got, she quite succeeded there. "differently. That doesn't mean I'm convinced."

She'd expected protests, but she got a determined glare, even if the hurt still showed. "We'll convince you. You'll see."

Natalie wasn't sure whether that confident stubbornness was heartening or worrying. She also wasn't sure if Gwen was trying to convince her, or herself. She didn't get a chance to linger on the thought, as Gwen's expression finally started to crumble, her lips working soundlessly while she tried to find words. "I know this isn't what you wanted for me. But I hope that," she hiccuped and averted her gaze, and all the alarm bells in Natalie's head started blaring-

"I hope that even if you can't accept _us, _that you can still accept _me._" The girl whispered and Natalie was on her feet and on the other couch before she'd even finished, for once in her life knowing exactly when her daughter needed her mother.

Gwen looked at her in surprise and hope and so many thing that Natalie could barely name. Now it was Natalie's turn to struggle to find words that always came to Frank and Max so easily. She wished they were here. They were the ones that were supposed to help Gwen through this, they'd know what to do, what to say. Natalie rarely felt out of her depth, but this had always been one of the things she was hopeless at; so she'd never tried.

But right now, she was the only one who could do this. She leaned down and placed a kiss on the crown of Gwen's head and the girl immediately burrowed into her hold, clinging on so tight that Natalie was sure she'd have sore ribs afterwards. The woman sighed, sadly.

"I know I don't say it enough." She whispered, feeling Gwen still in her arms. "Your father has been mad at me about that often enough. I never quite understood why, I thought it was obvious." She smiled at her daughter, and the little girl looked back up at her. "But if you have to even worry about such a thing, clearly I was mistaken. Again." She was on quite the roll there. She raised a hand to caress Gwen's cheek.

"Now listen here, and I will tell you this every day of your life until it sticks: you are my daughter. I am proud of you beyond measure and I will _always _accept you. It doesn't matter what you do, or _who _you love, because I will always love _you_." She kissed the crown of Gwen's head again. "Are we clear, princess?"

Gwen looked at her, completely stunned, fingers tangled in her shirt- and laughed. Not derisively, not because of any joke. It was a happy, pure thing springing from what seemed to be sheer joy. It warmed Natalie's heart. The girl buried her red face in her mother's shirt.

"Yes! Yes, yes we are clear." Gwen agreed, small frame shaking with mirth and, judging by the wetness Natalie could feel on her shirt, tears. Natalie ran a hand over the girl's hair and back reaching for something, anything else to say, if only to wrap up the session because Gwen was clearly through.

But there seemed to be no rush for either of them, so they just remained like that for a few minutes, Gwen soaking up the affection like a cat in the sun while Natalie enjoyed the warm presence of her daughter so close. It ended when the garden door slammed open and both redheads looked up to see one panting, panicked Ben standing in the doorway.

As Gwen tore herself free from her mother's embrace, she noted, wryly, that it seemed an inversion of her session with Ben. The girl met the boy just as he passed the threshold, catching him in a tight embrace that he returned with vigor. "I-I'm s-sorry," he stuttered. "I'm just being a-" he inhaled sharply, "a worrywart. Sorry to interrupt-"

Gwen silenced him with a kiss. It was a rather jarring demonstration of the reality they all found themselves in right now, Natalie noted with no small amount of bewilderment. It was one thing for Gwen to say it; quite another to see it.

The boy seemed momentarily stunned before he melted into the gesture, tension draining out of him as he kissed back. Before things got even remotely steamy though, her daughter pulled back, if only an inch.

"You okay?" She asked, eyeing the boy meaningfully, seeming to ask far more than Natalie could hope to comprehend. There was that undertone between them again, that little world they shared that no one else seemed to have access to. She wondered how much they'd all missed because of it. It was in moments like these, when the kids showed how deep their bond went, that Natalie felt she was not dealing with children anymore. She wondered if that was why she was willing to take their relationship so seriously; it seemed a natural extension of this remarkably deep and mature bond.

Ben was a little dazed, but nodded, raising his hands to trace his fingers over Gwen's face- seemingly for no other reason than because he wanted to, appearing completely mesmerized with her; something that caused Gwen to develop the most endearing blush. The moment was broken when he glanced passed Gwen and noticed Natalie rising to her feet as well. The girl took heed as well, turning and moving to stand beside Ben, looking back at the woman as well. They didn't say anything, only waited.

Waiting for the ax to fall, she realized. This was, Natalie considered, the moment where she put her money where her mouth was. So she walked over, standing in front of the two children and crossed her arms. She gave them an appraising look, quirking a brow. To their credit, despite their obvious nerves, they met her stare head on, standing shoulder to shoulder. Natalie wasn't sure if Ben was leaning on Gwen, or the other way around.

Perhaps it didn't matter. Perhaps that was the point.

She knelt down to their level and looked at them, _really_ looked at them, and tried to see them for what they saw each other as: not as cousins, not as friends, but as someone to love, as someone you share your burdens with, as someone you share your joys with…

It was hard. All of her was screaming that there would be hell to pay down the line, that this was setting them up for so much hurt and she needed to stop them for their own sake- but another part of her wanted her daughter, and her nephew, to be happy, and to be able to be happy for them. She closed her eyes, sighing, trying to sort through the tangled mess that was her emotions, but when she opened her eyes again-

She didn't see Ben and Gwen. She saw herself and Frank, roguish, mischievous Frank, staring down her mother as she rejected they boy and her in the same breath. It was what she needed to remember. She'd been treating Ben and Gwen being together only as a problem, rather than seeing it for what it was: something they were as powerless against as she had been falling for a boy that her mother had dismissed as a 'low class ruffian'. They hadn't done it because they wanted to cause trouble, or spite anyone, anymore than she had.

They'd just fallen in love. Just as she once had.

And she didn't want to punish them for that, she didn't want to be her mother. But she did know what _she _would have wanted to hear when she was young and in love and felt so very alone.

She pulled them both in close, cradling their small frames close, leaning in. "It's alright." She told them. "You don't have to do this alone." She assured them, feeling two children relax in her hold, twin sighs of relief ghosting over her. She was still convinced that this was a stupid, terrible idea that was going to leave them all wrecks in its wake.

But she knew from experience that even that was better than swimming against the tide. So, even sidelined as she was, Natalie decided that if this was happening, she was going to do everything she could to pull them through it in one piece.

* * *

A/N: Nat still needs convincing that this is a good idea, but if she's stuck with this state of affairs, no way is she taking this sitting down. She's becoming a surprisingly interesting character to write. Hope you all enjoyed. As per usual, the slow updates are because life is using me as a whooping cushion, not because I'm losing interest or am running out of ideas. Sorry for any mistakes.


	20. Chapter 20: Aggression

Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10.

A/N: chapter 20 folks. Feels like a milestone. Hope you enjoy it. Sorry that it took so long. Had to rewrite a portion because I swapped perspectives. And life being life.

* * *

"You know, you don't _have _to push me. I'm a big girl, I can manage." Emily teased, a smile in her voice. Gwen just grinned down at the girl in the wheelchair.

"It's my pleasure. Besides, Ben dared me into destroying a plate of cookies with him yesterday. I need to burn off the fat." She groused, her grin gaining a slightly sheepish quality. Emily turned her head to smile coyly up at Gwen.

"It's winter. Fat is how we survive. And hanging out with Ben again? You two have been getting along really well lately. It's weird."

Gwen chuckled, but didn't deny the girl's observation. Emily had been her friend since forever, her only friend for the longest time, and had sat by for plenty of spats between Ben and Gwen, and even more rants about how stupid the doofus was.

Gwen was self-aware enough to know that, whenever she talked about the doofus these days, it was in a… distinctly friendlier way. Sometimes, Gwen wondered if the girl suspected. Sometimes, Gwen wondered if she should just tell, even if the blonde hadn't been as involved in her struggles as her newer friends had been.

She'd get there. Just not today.

Pushing into the schoolyard during break and maneuvering around their schoolmates, they conquered a nice bench in the sun, perfect for enjoying the early November weather. The clear blue sky had the sun beating down on them, but the weather had finally turned cold enough that Gwen required a jacket over her dress, and leggings under it.

Maybe the cold snap would last long enough for snow. That'd be nice. She could have a snowball fight with Ben. Gwen grinned. She was _so_ burying the squirt.

"I had to learn to tolerate him over the summer. Might as well keep at it." It might have taken a few life and death situations to drive that point home, and some positively mind-blowing kisses to keep it there, but better late than never.

Emily shrugged, giving Gwen a meaningful look. "I'm just glad you're having fun again." _And not looking like you're about to cry all the time, _was the unspoken bit. Gwen swallowed, averting her gaze to the ground.

Both Ben and her had done pretty well to keep the overt meltdowns to a minimum at school, but people had noticed their change in demeanor. And after her episode last week when Marci pushed her into the bushes, Emily had been watching her like a hawk. It was heartening that she cared, but a part of Gwen felt sad that one of the last bastions of her 'normal life', before magic, aliens, hurt and _Ben,_ was no longer immune.

At this rate, there would be nothing left of that life. At that rate, she'd end up like Gwendolyn had. She wasn't sure if that was a path she even wanted anymore.

Before Gwen could dwell on that, her phone started vibrating in the inner pocket of her jacket. It was just as well; she was pretty sure her thoughts had been about to become depressing. _Thanks for the save, random caller! _Despite thinking that, she still quirked a brow at the caller id when she pulled the phone out. Lizzie calling wasn't exactly _unusual_; the girls texted her every few hours or so, all the moreso since they learned that it wasn't just Ben who could get… scared, from time to time. But a call usually meant something was up with-

Emily leaned over to peer at the display before she snorted. "First you befriend Ben, now some girl is calling you; I'm starting to feel replaced." She huffed with mock indignation. Gwen put on the best grin she could muster before standing and leaning down to give the girl a quick hug.

"You'll always be my forever girl, Em." She assured. It was true. Sure, Anna and Lizzie had grown on her, but Emily was the one sane friend that she had. That counted for a lot. And Ben… well. Ben needed no explanation. Pulling back, she gave the girl a sheepish grin.

She got a fond eye-roll in response. "Fine, fine. Don't mind me."

Gwen poked out her tongue before stepping away and answering the phone. "Sup, Liz?" She asked, casually as she could. It was likely that the girl was just calling for fun; they hadn't seen each other for a while after all.

"Helloooo, gorgeous!" The exuberant girl greeted, voice cheerful over the line. It almost put Gwen's worries at ease. Almost. "How are you doing?" She finished sweetly.

Gwen quirked a brow, uncaring that her intended recipient couldn't appreciate the sardonic effort she'd put into it. She was sure Anna would've been proud of her, though.

"Fine, all things considered." She answered honestly. Granted, when Ben had whispered '_it's raining squids_' in her ear last Friday, she hadn't been fine. She hadn't panicked. Neither had Ben. Vilgax, while dangerous, was nothing new. It hadn't stopped her from glancing over her shoulder more often than she normally would. It hadn't stopped Ben from being jumpy for all of that evening. And it hadn't stopped them from clinging to each other a little more than normal when her cousin had, predictably, stayed over.

Saturday had been easier on them both. He'd explained how he'd found a drone, a large one, and how he'd torn it to shreds with Upgrade. Hardly a prelude to an all out attack, he'd agreed with her, but still. Vilgax was back and they would have to deal with that, but Gwen was confident they could take him. They'd been trashing him since before they'd barely mastered their respective powers- now? Either of them could do it on their own, and Vilgax wouldn't know what hit him, whenever he showed up. Ben had smiled when she'd mentioned that.

It hadn't reached his eyes.

Sunday had left her mostly normal. Ben had been antsy. Very much so. But again, he hadn't panicked once, and hadn't stopped being himself for even a moment. She didn't have to like that he was worrying, but she definitely understood it. To a point. She figured he would start worrying less as the shock wore off, but maybe Ben was just going to linger in it for longer. That was fine.

And it had given her an excuse to kiss him as often as she could get away with- essentially any time her father was not in the room. The faces mom had made were hilarious, though they had often moved toward more secluded rooms. No need to strain her mother's tolerance to the breaking point, after all.

Ben had stayed another night, but left early today to see grandpa. Ostensibly because he did so every other morning, but Gwen suspected he wanted to discuss their newest problem with the experienced Plumber too.

He'd seemed to be getting better though. But perhaps, she'd underestimated this. "Is Ben _not _doing well…?"

Silence met her query, and she felt the weight of a rock settle in her stomach.

"Yeah, see, here's the thing." Lizzie started, sounding equal measures of worried and sheepish, "He didn't show up at school. And you know, it isn't like Ben's never late, because oh_ boy_ is he late all the time-"

"He didn't show?" Gwen asked, the weight in her stomach turning into a swarm of wasps, buzzing against the inside of her skin.

"Err, no. We figured you might know more..." The girl trailed of, hope and dread coloring her voice. Gwen swallowed. Ben should have made it just fine. He hadn't slept in. He'd been up and about, there was no reason for him not to make it to school unless-

"I haven't seen him since this morning. But I'll…. I'll go look for him. Thanks for telling me, Liz. And don't worry!" She smiled, knowing full well that her friend couldn't see it. Ben and grandpa always told her that they could hear her smile. She hoped Lizzie could as well. "He's probably just in bed again, sleeping through everything like the lazy bum he is." A bold-faced lie. She knew he had to be up, and while Ben _used _to be an extremely heavy sleeper, nowadays, he only slept deeply when she was there. Otherwise, he'd jump awake at the drop of a hat- or the ring of a phone. She'd called him up after a nightmare often enough.

"...okay Gwen." The brunette voice rasped softly over the connection, and Gwen's heart lurched a little at the worry in her voice. It reminded her viscerally that Anna and Lizzie cared a lot about her cousin. And beside that worry, there was trust; trust that Gwen would find him and that he'd be just fine.

And he'd better be because if Ben was making Gwen into a liar, she was going to kill him.

...okay, she might not kill him, but she'd yell. Meanly. And use those swear words grandpa told her to save for special occasions. "I'll keep you posted, okay?"

Lizzie thanked her again and the line went dead a long second later. Gwen sighed, turning to Emily with an apologetic smile-

The wheelchair bound girl waved her off. "It's fine. Go find your doofert."

"Doof_us,_ Em."

"It's all doof to me."

Gwen shook her head fondly before she grabbed her backpack and marched from the schoolyard without further ado, ignoring the weird looks it garnered her. Gwen had always been a bit of an oddball; she was used to it. The streets were quiet this time of day, morning traffic having long since ended. Perfect for being a moody little thundercloud on a mission.

She called Ben first. Because yes, he hadn't answered Lizzie, but if he was in a mood, he could do that just to be a jerk. And if he was, she was gonna add that to the list of things she was going to chew him out for.

The phone rang, but no one answered. Gwen frowned. _Alright, not gonna shout at him for ignoring Lizzie. __I _am_ g__onna shout __at him for ignoring _me_! _"Idiot boyfriend." She growled as she selected another contact. This time, there was an answer.

"Pumpkin! Now if this isn't the most lovely surprise!"

"Hey gramps." She smiled despite the situation. Grandpa's exuberance always made her feel better. "Sorry to cut right to it, but have you seen Ben today? I can't reach him, and with it raining squids and all that..."

Her grandfather hummed, thoughtfully, but not worriedly. It made her stomach unclench, if just a little. "He showed up like usual for, err..."

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah, for the training that I totally don't know about and which is absolutely going to catch me off guard during our next sparring session." She said, dry as a desert. She thought it was cute that Ben thought he could pull the wool over her eyes, but it was kinda hard to blindside someone who's thinking of you more often than not.

...yikes. She_ really_ needed a hobby. Maybe she'd been too quick to drop all of her extracurricular activities.

Grandpa Max chuckled at her words. "Yeah, that. He showed up for that, left just before school started, same as always. Was a little tense, but I think we all are." Well, he wasn't wrong there. "Have you tried the tracker in his phone?"

"No, I haven't. Could you do that for me? The phone only gives coordinates..." Grandpa could use the Rustbucket's equipment to actually know _where _he was. Coordinates were fine when you knew thereabout where someone _should_ be, but she had no idea where Ben could be, or if Vilgax hadn't snatched him and taken him off planet-

_Get it together Gwen. _She told her racing heart. _Don't turn into Ben over this._ Which really wasn't fair to him because they were both enormous worrywarts when it came to the other, but she needed to hang onto_ something._

"Sure thing, let me boot up the tracker... uhuh, commands given... give it a second… any minute now..." A loud bang resounded over the line and Gwen almost snickered. Rule number one of Plumber training: when in doubt, hit it. "Ah there we are. It looks like he's in the foothills of the Bellwoord national park. You remember that place?"

Gwen smiled, and didn't care that she probably looked more than a little smitten. "Yeah, I remember." It was where she and Ben had first kissed, _really _kissed. And decided that this thing between them was something they weren't going to run away from. The memory was good on her heart, that was for sure. Even if she was still going to yell at him for making her worry. "Thanks, grandpa. I'm gonna make sure that he didn't accidentally trip over the tentacly jerk."

Hanging up the phone, she dove between the houses, walking through the narrow pathways created by backyard fences. They'd hide her well enough. Closing her eyes, she felt weightlessness settle over her, and when she opened her eyes her hands shone with blue light, as did all of her. From one step to the next she was flying.

* * *

Much as she wanted to swoop and cheer and just enjoy the flight, she had a place to reach that was pretty far away and she had to conserve energy. Powerful as she felt like this, she was on a timer that was every bit as unforgiving as the Omnitrix had been to Ben in the beginning. Besides, flying was way more fun with her doofus there anyway.

Racing high above the land, she saw civilization fade into wilderness beneath her and turned her resolute gaze to the mountains and foothills. It took her only a short while to get to them, even if she did feel the strain of the prolonged flight, and she scanned the area for telltale signs of doofus habitation- there! She spotted him in the distance, a lone figure against the grassy hills. He saw her too, and raised his arm to wave enthusiastically. She smiled and tried to ignore the twinge of her ethereal heart at all the greenery below her. He was safe, and glad to see her. She just had a final stretch to go-

Her form shattered and she felt wind rush passed her and she needed to throw up a shielding spell-

Stinkfly caught her, knocking the wind out of her even as she inwardly sighed in relief. A sloth for most of the time, but when she needed him, he could be ridiculously fast. Or at least when she was. She appreciated the feeling of safety that gave her.

"And _this_ is why you should leave the flying to the professionals, dweeb." She appreciated the commentary less. She swatted his chest, heart still hammering in her throat. She really needed to work on her endurance, and on knowing when it was about to give out on her.

"You're just mad that I'm more graceful when I do it, you petty bug." She retorted as her breathing returned to normal.

He snorted as he angled them down and landed them. It sounded harsh in this form, but she doubted it was meant that way. "Yeah, you looked_ real_ graceful when you were falling from the sky like a brick." She huffed an annoyed breath before reaching up and pressing her hand to the Omnitrix symbol between his eyes and ran her magic directly into it.

A flash of green and a crash later, she smirked down at the doofus groaning under her, mood much improved. "You were saying something about grace?" She asked, sweetly, grin all teeth.

He groaned again, propping himself up on his elbows to glare at her. "You were saying something about petty?"

Gwen just hummed, getting off him and looking around, taking in the scenery. Last time they'd been here, it had been earlier in the season, but colder on account of the gray and the fog. While the clear blue sky did nothing to keep the warmth trapped, the sun was pleasant, and the fields felt less soggy to her feet. On a nearby rock, she could see Ben's jacket and backpack- likely where he'd left his phone.

Turning back to the boy, she found he'd gotten up as well and was looking at her curiously, cocking his head in that infuriatingly endearing way of his. She liked to think that he did it just to get under her skin, but she knew it was genuine. That just made it worse. "Why did your glowing thing fail?" He asked, mystified.

Gwen just stared him down, burying the disquiet his question inspired under haughtiness. She did not like being reminded of how fragile she, and her power, really were. How extended use and fear, could still blow her out like a candle. She shook her head, shaking off the thought and his question. "You're not picking up your phone." She stated, instead. "Lizzie's worried." _I'm worried, doofus. _

Ben groaned. Even as he did, she could see him flinch at her words. He'd gotten the message loud and clear. "Please tell me you're not _that _kind of girlfriend..."

Gwen crossed her arms, quirking an imperious brow at him. It would've sent most of her classmates scurrying. It did precisely nothing to Ben. Cheater. "Oh I am _definitely _that kind of girlfriend." She returned, letting him know by her glare that no way was he getting off the hook for this one.

Ben pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm fine, dweeb. Just wanted some space to train."

That's not what her eyes told her. He'd seemed well enough when he'd left this morning, but now, he seemed... tired. Scared. Hunted. She buried her anger, same as she had last time. Not because she wasn't angry on some level, because she was. But she knew her anger didn't get through to him, and more importantly...

Her anger didn't heal. It didn't steady when he faltered. And that was her job right now. "You... don't seem fine, Ben." She remarked, quietly, stepping up into his personal space. He didn't push her away, but he did stiffen. More because of her words than her proximity, she thought. But he wasn't cracking yet. So she closed the distance and leaned her forehead against his, the tips of their noses brushing. He closed his eyes, and she felt his brow slowly smooth out, tension draining out of him little by little.

She kept her eyes open. She'd like to think that it was because she wanted to keep her imploring stare on him and didn't want to get sucked too deeply into the gesture of comfort- that way lay kisses and she didn't want to 'kiss it better'... yet. But it was really just because she wanted to keep looking at his face and into his eyes.

No, she wasn't going to offer a better explanation than that.

His breath ghosted over her face and she did her utmost not to shudder. It was tough going, but became easier when Ben spoke up, voice barely above a murmur. "When I took out the drone with Upgrade, I met _him_ again. Like the first time with that crazy lady." Ben explained. "He said... he said he was going to come for all my weak spots." The boy gave her a moment to digest that. It had killed any romance in the air, alright.

But it wasn't ever going to kill her attitude. "Vilgax threatening us is basically Tuesday, Ben." She joked, earning a startled snicker out of him. She grinned and nuzzled his face. He didn't quite nuzzle back, but he was slowly relaxing. It was a start. "We can take him. We've done so since before we were half as strong as we are now."

She felt that Ben wanted to agree with her, but instead he shook his head, opening his green eyes. "He called you 'firefly.'" He said, sounding miserable, as if that was supposed to make any sense to her.

Gwen's own brow furrowed in puzzlement at that for a long moment before it clicked. Ben had a ton of nicknames for her; most he used in passing, others he used specifically as insults, and some where only whispered like a secret into her ear. But 'firefly' was a recent one. And Vilgax could only know that if... alright, that was creepy. On a host of levels.

Ben nodded. "He's been watching. He _knows_ that we're stronger." Ben moved back, ever so slightly, but even that distance physically hurt her- hurt them both, if the look on his face was anything to go by. She grabbed his shirt, more as a gesture than to actually stop him. He stopped anyway. "But he's back, and asking for more, despite that." The boy finished, gritting his teeth.

"Which means he thinks he can beat us." Gwen mused, absently trailing her hands up his sides, if only to have something to do. And to enjoy the way his face slowly melted from misery to an endearing blush. "And that's got you worried."

Ben swallowed, but didn't object and... okay. That made some sense. Only... "But this is Vilgax we're talking about. He _always _overestimates himself. And underestimates us. Even when we beat him again and again." She pointed out. "So how seriously do we really have to take _his_ estimate on if he can take us or not? The dumb squid's probably wrong. Again."

Ben bit his lip and she had to use all of her considerable willpower not to be completely sidetracked by the sight. "Yeah, see, I _agree_." He told her, sighing, seemig exasperated, but not with her. "You're probably right. He always does that, and we always win. But..." He trailed off, letting the silence stretch.

Gwen closed her eyes, conceding the unspoken point. Yeah. Even knowing that, it was a hard fear to shake, and, bluntly put, all those wins had been very close calls every time. She was far more flippant about it than Ben, and even she felt some disquiet at the idea of Vilgax planning something that could actually be a threat. Even when she knew, she _knew, _that they could and would win this.

She could try to sway him into calming down, talk to him. Reason with him and make him see things her way. But... she sighed, seeing the guilt in his eyes all too clearly. Neither of them were strong enough to face their fears yet, and Ben's were roiling right under the surface. He raised a hand to cradle her cheek. "I just don't want you to get hurt." He whispered, apologetically, miserably. She smiled despite herself. She'd leveled him every sparring match they'd ever had, and he still worried about her safety above anyone's.

It was one of those moments that made her love him, not caring that she was ten and was being a sap for even thinking it. She tilted her head slowly to brush her lips to his despite her earlier resolve not to- a ghost of a whisper, an invitation at best-

Her toes curled when he kissed her back fiercely, his hand tangling in the hair at the nape of her neck in a way that he hadn't done in a while while his other snaked around her waist. She almost whimpered at the sensation. Say what you will about his attitude towards anything else, Ben held _nothing_ back when he kissed.

It had to be this place, she reasoned. She couldn't be held accountable for being kissy when she was in the place where they'd first smooched it up. It be sacrosanct _not_ to kiss him here-

Ben tackled them both to the ground as a dark orange blur shot overhead.

* * *

Ben didn't waste any time rolling off Gwen, nor did she waste any time jumping back up, eyes sharp and focused. They scanned their surroundings, quickly spotting a Wildmutt skidding to a halt ten yards away from them before it sniffed the air and turned back to the children- baring its sharp teeth as it did. It was bigger than his own Wildmutt form, but also emaciated, and covered in scars.

And it wore a collar around its neck that was a familiar red metal. Ben narrowed his eyes, gritting his teeth. He was going to turn the squid into sushi once he got his hands on him.

Exchanging a look with Gwen, they nodded in unison. Hero time. The girl immediately channeled mana throughout her being and Ben watched, mesmerized with anticipation for her glowing form to spring to life slowly with sparks of blue- only for it to dissipate with a sound like a balloon deflating.

Ben tried very, very hard not to snicker at that. He failed abyssmally. At her heated glare, he just laughed harder.

"Not a word out of you!"

"And for my next balloon animal, I'm going to make a dweeb- oh sorry she _deflated_."

Gwen yelled in frustration before raising a hand in the face of the charging beast. "**Berdi mordo nata!**" She yelled, and even if her glowing form was not working, this was a quick reminder that Gwen was _far _from helpless.

A beam of fire shot from her palm and hit the charging beast in the head, causing it to stumble and whimper, before it dashed away in the opposite direction in a panic, fur smoking. As it did, Ben noticed that the collar attached to its neck delivered a visible and painful looking shock to the beast.

Gwen grit her teeth beside him, muttering darkly while Ben hissed. Yeah, this was Vilgax's style alright.

This time when it came around, Ben shot forward to meet it, a flash of green morphing him into own Wildmutt form. He tackled the larger canine out of the way mid charge, growling at the creature, a sound that roughly translated to '_what gives?'_

"Good boy!" Gwen cheered behind him, earning her a disgruntled snort. He was gonna get revenge for that remark later. "Can you ask it what the heck is going on?" Ben growled louder, this time directing it at the other creature, trying to convey the question. It was hard. It felt like more of an instinctual growl than an actual language, a raw emotion rather than a sentence. So he kept his form tense and at the ready, and was relieved to smell and hear the crackle of Gwen's magic in her palms behind him.

The beast's answering screech made Ben wince because it screamed of pain and hurt and _please make it stop-_ Ben lowered his head and whined. Crap. How the heck was he even supposed to fight this thing? It didn't feel very intelligent to Ben, either, but he had no idea if that was due to this individual or if Wildmutt's in general just weren't very good at talking-

Another loud screech tore him from his musings and he found it charging him again. This time, Ben shifted into Fourarms, catching the beast's charge before hauling him off the ground and tossing him far away, giving them some breathing space. He hoped he hadn't hurt the creature too much with that move.

"It doesn't seem to be to very smart." The red giant rumbled to Gwen. "Doesn't seem to understand its own kind very well either."

"You two should get along like a house on fire..." She grumbled, eyes narrowing in thought, biting her lip. "Can you get the collar off?" She asked, giving him an imploring look.

Fourarms crossed all of his arms, in thought, eyes focused on the distant form getting off the ground and shaking its head; right before it let out another ear piercing screech. "The only thing that's fast enough for that is XLR8 or your glowy thing. But steering that form is not as easy as I make it look, and if I can't get it off fast enough..." A Wildmutt vs XLR8 match-up... The giant shuddered, giving her a sheepish look. "Yeah, how about I _don't_ get mauled today?"

Gwen blew out a frustrated breath but didn't contest his point, merely attempting to restart her power form again, if the blue sparks were anything to go by- but it failed again. She swore up a storm that made him snicker. He wasn't the only one that had picked up some nice ones from Tetrax.

Speaking of Tetrax... Ben shifted into Diamondhead and slammed his fists into the ground, causing a large shelter of crystal to form around them- a shelter that shook after the beast outside crashed into it moments later. _Aw yeah, hero timing is at it again._

"That should buy us some time." He grumbled before shifting back into Ben. He turned to face her. "Okay, brainiac, time to put that big brain to work-"

The shelter shook again and a crack formed on the exterior. Gwen winced. "You wanna reinforce that, freakazoid?" She asked, caught between sheepish and meek. It was a very weird look on Gwen, but not one he'd never seen before. This wasn't the first tight spot they'd been in, after all.

Ben eyed the crack for a second before shaking his head, ears twitching at the sound of scratching outside. "No. It's already hurting itself enough as it is, if I make it go at this for longer..." They might kill the creature. And no way was he letting Vilgax turn him into a murderer. Gwen crossed her arms in thought, gears churning in her head, eyes flitting about in thought. He kept one mesmerized eye on her and one on the crack in the wall- ah, another one had appeared, but it was on a different part of their shelter. Good. Seemed the beast wasn't smart enough to focus its rage on one spot. That might give them more time.

"So you think it's not being mind controlled but coerced?" Gwen asked, thoughtfully.

"Conversed...?"

"Forced, lame brain."

"Ah. Yeah. It seems to be in control, its just really, really hurting. But I don't think it _wants _to hurt us..." And that really made this fight ten times more bitter.

Gwen sighed, rubbing her temples. "Probably conditioned to hunt you, than. Guess we can't just ask it to sit down for a second so we can figure out how to get the collar off..." She stilled completely for a long second before looking around their large shelter, eyes settling on her backpack and making a jump for it. Quickly scooping it up, she rooted inside it and pulled out the spellbook.

"Dweeb?" Ben asked, nervously as another crash shook the shelter. He let the Omnitrix power up, feeling his veins burn as his arm throbbed. _Whine about that later, we got work to do._ "If you've got something..."

"It was around here, I know it was… got it!" She looked up from the small book and turned to Ben. "Hold it still when it comes through!"

_Simple enough._ In a flash of green he was Fourarms once again. Wildvine would probably have been more effective...

But no way was he doing that to Gwen. "Get ready to cast, dweeb!" He responded.

The beast burst through the wall and Ben met it as it did, tackling it down and pinning it to the ground. It thought fiercely, jaws snapping and claws rending, but Fourarms' hide was strong and it only managed to tear one gash on in arm. "Do it!"He told her, seeing her raise her hand from the corner of one of his four eyes, channeling her magic directly from the spellbook, something he hadn't seen her do in a while.

It was a pleasantly familiar sight. "**Amorous infecta!**" She called out, a beam of light shooting from her hand. The spell struck both aliens, and some of the crystal around them, filling the room with light for a brief moment. It only took a second to take effect. Ben didn't feel any different, but the mutt quickly relaxed, its bites turning into licks and its attempts to rip him to shreds turning into affectionate nuzzles.

Ben shot Gwen a distinctly flat look with his four eyes as soon as it seemed like the danger had passed and he moved off the mutt. "Really? _That_ spell was your big play?"

Gwen shrugged, pocketing the book with a grin. "I needed it to stop biting you." She explained, grin widening when the mutt reared up on its hindlegs and licked Ben's face with vigor. "And it worked."

"Yay." Ben grumbled as a large orange head nuzzles his face. "Lucky me. Would you _sit down _already-" He pushed the creature back with two of his arms. It didn't seem to mind, instead shifting its attention to nuzzling the hands, sitting on it's behind. The giant groaned. At least Gwen seemed amused with the whole thing.

"Don't whine, you big red baby." The redhead snickered, slightly sweaty from all the magic cast and her eyes bright with adrenaline and misschief. "You should be used to getting attention from a redhead by now." She finished with a wink, and Ben was very grateful that Fourarms was already beet red. Gwen stepped up, examining the collar around the mutt's neck. "Can you get it off?" She asked, looking up at him. It always made him well great when she had to- _Focus now, fantasize about being taller than her later._

Ben examined the collar as well, running calloused fingers over the red metal; something not made all that easy by the mutt trying to nuzzle his hands the whole time. "Not sure." He muttered, more to himself than to Gwen. "I can try to rip it off, but doing that to metal attached to a neck..." Not even he was that reckless. Better if he went Upgrade and took it off from the inside out. But for that, he needed to create an entry point or he was going to get zapped. Again. He was about to shift into Grey Matter to figure out how when he spotted Gwen beside him and the beast, reaching up on her tip toes for collar.

Huffing a laugh, he picked her up so she could reach it. She smirked at the gesture. "My hero." She coed. He snorted. She could fly, for crying out loud. Or they could've asked the mutt to lower its head. She was just milking this for all it was worth.

Reaching out, she ran a mana wreathed hand over the metal, brow furrowed cutely in concentration. He could watch her for hours. Unfortunately, or fortunately he guessed, it only took her half a minute to figure it out. The red metal parted under her fingers like a curtain, revealing its inner workings. She blew her index finger as if blowing the barrel of a gun, and the Wildmutt groaned appreciatively at the progress. "Yeah, I'm awesome. No need to say it."

"And modest as ever." Ben remarked, rolling all his eyes before smirking. "But I guess you're right; you _are_ pretty awesome." One of his smaller hands ruffled her hair and she cried out as he put her down. Shifting into Upgrade, he merged with the collar through the opening she'd created before she could go to town on him.

"Ben!" She whined as she tried to fix her hair. "I'm gonna kick your scrawny butt the second you're human enough to get kicked." She promised.

"Yeah, sure you will. You love my butt, and you know it." She yelled in frustration again, but didn't deny it. He smirked inwardly, but before he could tease her further, the lock on the collar gave way and he fell off the mutt, hitting the ground hard.

Gwen laughed at him, right up until the beast let out a cheerful yip and lowered its head to lick her face. Ben snickered at her squeal.

"Ew! Gross! So gross! Sit! Fetch! Do anything but this!" As she yumped several feet back out of the mutt's reach- to the its great sadness.

Ben's mechanical laughter rang. "Not so fun when it's you, isn't it? Seems I wasn't the only one marked by your spell." He observed as he detatched himself form the collar, standing to his full height, unfortunately diverting the Wildmutt's attention back to him.

Gwen sighed. "At least it only goes one way..." She grumbled, wiping her face as the creature decided to see if Upgrade made a good chew toy. Ben took it up on that challenge with a snicker. As the canine munched on Ben's arm (which sorta felt like a dog gnawing on his arm through an oven mitten) he considered that the spell had at least done it's job; and compared to last time when Gwen had cast it to set three dogs' worth of affection on him, this was still a great improvement.

And it seemed the effects were limited to the mutt that was lovingly trying to eat him, even if it had looked like the spell had hit them all. He _felt_ normal, and Gwen didn't seem to be acting any different either, he mused, glancing at her. She was on the phone, probably calling grandpa. He could've listened in but didn't bother. Aside from looking tired and a little frazzled, she seemed normal. Not trying to eat his arm like the mutt, or trying to lick him like those dogs had done last time.

Then again, if Gwen was affected by the spell, she'd probably not act like that anyway. She'd be more likely to crawl in his lap and kiss him while tickling his jaw-

Upgrade disolved into a puddle. The Wildmutt whined at this turn of events and lowered itself, sniffing at Ben. Yeah, probably for the best that neither of them had been affected by the spell.

Small feet appeared beside his puddle and he glanced up at Gwen, who was quirking a brow at him. "You trying to get an upskirt down there, freakazoid?"

He couldn't even _do _that, what with her leggings under the dress, but he still shot up stammering. She laughed at him. "I'm teasing, doofus. Grandpa's on his way with the Rustbucket. Shouldn't take long; he's using the jet engines."

Probably not the best idea to do that during the day, or at all, but he assumed grandpa and Gwen had that figured out. "Huh. Neat. At least we won't half to walk back." He shifted back into himself. "Cuz I don't know about you, but I'm pretty... tired..."

Well, okay. He had to admit: his dweeb looked _very _different to his human eyes. In _all_ the best ways.

"...doofus?" Gwen asked, eyeing him warily, flushing under his scrutiny. "Did your last braincell finally implode?"

Ben swallowed, feeling heat pool _everywhere_. "I-I think it did." He admitted, stepping forward. He placed one hand on her waist while another cradled her cheek. Her breath hitched while his heart skipped a beat. He placed his forehead against hers and, but he didn't close his eyes. He wanted to see her. It was strange, in a way. Not fifteen minutes ago they'd done this very same gesture, but the energy was totally different.

It felt amazing. Exiting.

Her pupils became so large that he could see himself reflected in them. Still, she tried to play it cool. He'd stopped pretending to. "W-Where is this coming from, doofus?" She asked, hesitantly, even as her hands betrayed her by tangling in his shirt. He almost smirked. Almost. But his mouth had better uses. Like kissing her. But before that...

"You are so beautiful." He told her, throat dry, and even as he knew that he wasn't entirely doing this because he wanted to but was sorta highjacked by that stupid love spell of hers-

Well. It wasn't like he wasn't thinking it all the time. But maybe he should say it more often because the way her eyes widened and her jaw slackened were absolutely amazing. It made her look insanely kissable.

So he did. Because spell or no spell, he wanted to do that all the time anyway.

Not that this felt anything like hypnosis. He was still him, he felt that clearly. _He_ controlled the hand that trailed from her cheek to the nape of her neck, just as _he_ felt they way her lips worked against his, and the shudder as she gasped against his mouth when he clenched his hand in her hair and the _amazing _sensation of her tongue dancing against his-

And it was certainly him that groaned when he landed flat on his back after she threw him over her shoulder. Cracking his eyes open, he saw she was looking down at him, beet red.

"...sorry." She muttered. "You were kinda going wild." In the background he heard the Wildmutt blow out a breath in what sounded like affirmation. He sighed, struggling to his feet, standing in front of her.

They looked at each other for a long moment and he still felt the heat run all through him, but now that the initial shock of it had passed, he could control himself a little better. Probably. He licked his lips, trying not to let his eyes stray to hers, even if he desprately wanted to capture them again. "Sorry." He rasped, voice still dry. "I'll keep a lid on it, freak." He should be able to do that. He was in love with her all the time after all, this was really no different.

He could do this. And even if he slipped, even if it was in front of grandpa, at least now they had a darn good excuse. And the dweeb knew that.

But with the way she was looking back at him, he was pretty sure that both of them knew that having that excuse was far too much temptation for either of them.

* * *

A/N: Okay, to reiterate because I know it got a little on the steamy side there: this fic will not contain smut. This is really as far as it goes. And no, Ben is just under the effects of an aphrodisiac, he's not 'in heat' or any of that nonsense. Just so we clear on that. To 'TheRealXenocide': First of, hi, glad to see you're still reading! Second: your question on Ghostfreak. My memory of OS is a little patchy, so when I wrote Ghostfreak back in chapter 9, it was because I really like the alien and needed his abilities later on for the Omnitrix exploration subplot. I didn't really think about how it worked or why it was there other than 'a wizard did it' err, I mean 'Azmuth did it.' I have made up a headcanon for how it works since then that'll swing by in the near future.


	21. Chapter 21: Revelations

A/N: Not quite dead. Thanks for everyone who gave this story a second glance and who send nice PM's asking if I hadn't died on them. Warms my little heart. Apologies for any mistakes, I couldn't find any glaring ones in the last check but I ll give it another go with a fresher head in the morning.

Edit: thank you Ian Atlas for pointing out some mistakes, I corrected them. Glad you liked the chapter and thank you for understanding :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10.

* * *

Natalie stirred her coffee, idly watching the vapor rise from it as it cooled. Across from her and a little to the side of their quaint round kitchen table, Sandra was fidgeting- not so much in nervousness as in nervous _energy, _she thought. Carl had always been the calm in their marriage.

Speaking of which, her brother in law sighed into the receiver where he stood leaning against the kitchen counter, a rueful smile ghosting across his lips, a small spot of happiness in his otherwise tense frame. He always looked disturbingly like Frank in moments like these, something Sandra and her had often mused about.

"Of course they are. And of course she did. No, no I'm not even surprised anymore. Is he doing better-? Ah, glad to hear it. That'll put Sandra at ease."

At her name, the blonde glanced up from her own coffee, quirking a brow at her husband before turning her inquisitive gaze on Nat. The redhead shrugged. She had a pretty good idea of what had happened, but wasn't in any hurry to mention that.

"Okay. I'll pass it on. Keep us posted? Yeah. Of course I'll give Sandra a kiss for you- Natalie too?" Carl turned a bemused look onto Nat. She pulled out her best death glare in return and he flinched. The move reminded her so much of Ben in that moment that she almost wanted to get up to ruffle his hair. "Err, how about a crisp high-five…? Yeah, I'll do that then. Later, dad."

Ending the call, he sighed, still smiling that rueful smile. As if to highlight his similarity to both his son and father in that moment, he all but marched over to Sandra as soon as he put the phone down and shamelessly kissed her deeply, holding up his hand for Nat. She bit back a chuckle and held out until he was done eating his wife's face before finally giving in and smacking the hand back. Hard.

Rubbing the appendage, he took his own seat at the dinner table. "Alright, with that out of the way: dad called. Turns out that Ben was having a really rough day, and Gwen sorta walked out of school to go see him." He turned to give Natalie a look. She held up her hands.

"I have yet to hear from Gwen's school, but even if they did call, they probably contacted Frank rather than me." And _he_ had neglected to call her. Probably saving it for when he could soothe her wroth with dinner and a back-rub.

The joke was on him. She wasn't angry about Gwen at all. But she supposed milking the situation for a free back-rub couldn't hurt. She'd been raised to seize opportunities, after all.

"Right." Carl continued. "Anyway, Gwen made the executive decision that Ben needed some 'home away from home' time and dad has no spine, so we'll be seeing them somewhere tomorrow. Maybe." He finished sipping his coffee, grimacing slightly. The man had never liked coffee as much as the rest of them.

Natalie sighed, mirroring Carl's rueful expression while Sandra pinched the bridge of her nose with an equally exasperated look. "Well," the blonde stated, "raise of hands for who's surprised?"

Carl snorted, putting his mug down before he accidentally inhaled it. "I know we always raised him to be independent, but I didn't think he'd be moving out so soon." The man wiped mock tears and Natalie rolled her eyes. He wasn't far off though; she was pretty sure Ben effectively spent half his free time not being home.

And a lot of that time was at her house. Making out with her daughter, to boot. Her left eye twitched. That… still took some getting used to. As well as quelling the instinctual urge to throw any boy out the window for coming near her little girl.

She bit back a sigh. She'd made a promise to the kids. And to herself. Though she couldn't help but wonder if this visit to their grandpa wasn't simply the next step in their plan to win everyone over. She wanted to scoff at the thought, because they were _ten,_ for crying out loud. And acted like it most of the time.

But she'd seen them be clever beyond their years before. She was not underestimating them again.

"I suppose that means we can take our time with whatever you've got going on here." Natalie remarked, using her coffee mug to gesture at the map on the table. A map, marked with a route, and a photo album next to it, as well as a pile of paper on the edge of the table. Clear hints, but perhaps Carl could surprise her. "What am I looking at?"

"A map and a photo-album-"

"I see where Ben gets the sass..."

"Yes, bit of a story to that." Carl interrupted them, giving Sandra a pointed look. She blew him a kiss and Natalie couldn't contain a quirk of her lips. Sandra grinned when she spotted it and all was fine. For now. The stern woman turned her full attention on the man. He sighed, looking far more troubled than he usually did, the tension returning to the room in spades, snapping into focus the bags under his eyes. And that of his wife.

If it was for the reason Natalie thought it was, that did not bode well for Ben and Gwen. For the time being, the woman took a sip of her coffee and settled in for a wait. Much as Carl and Frank could be alike, if there was one difference between them, it was that the columnist had a way of taking forever to get to the point.

"Last week," he started, "when Gwen was sleeping over, we noticed something… odd about the children." Natalie quirked a brow at him, conveying her meaning well enough. He held up his hand to forestall her. "Odder than usual, I mean."

Natalie bit back another sigh, leaning back in her seat. Okay, so they were doing this now. "What do you mean, Carl?"

The man's jaw worked silently for a moment before he continued. "You know the way they are, these days. They bicker all the time still, but they also… cuddle. A lot." Understatement of the century. The brats lived in each other's pockets. "But last time..." He trailed off.

"Last time they were looking at each other like you and Frank do after a good round of-"

"Thank you Sandra, I think we got it." Natalie interrupted primly, taking a delicate sip of her coffee and fighting down the heat crawling up her face. She cleared her throat before fixing the others with a pointed look. "Surely you're not suggesting that Ben and Gwen are doing more than just cuddling…?"

Because she was pretty sure that was physically impossible at their age. And she _hoped _that the open door she left for Gwen would leave her feeling secure enough to bring things like that up with her a few years down the line _before_ things escalated. She was not ready to be a grandmother anytime soon.

And if there was a distant part of Natalie that was laughing hysterically at herself for thinking in terms of 'years down the line' when it came to Ben and Gwen, she squashed it ruthlessly. That way lay madness and there was enough of that going around.

Sandra and Carl immediately started spluttering. "No, no! Not at all!" Sandra said. "Just a joke to illustrate the point, let's not go _there-"_

"I'm just picking up where you left of, Sandra dearest." She pointed out, innocently. Goodness gracious, the kids were rubbing off on her. She was having far too much fun like this.

"All we're saying," Carl picked up, taking a sip of his own coffee- not his first mug, by the looks of it. He looked like he'd pulled an all-nighter. "is that the… energy between the kids was pretty tense. And the way they talked made us think that..." He sighed, running a hand through his hair before fixing Nat with a penetrating look. She almost swallowed, but instead sipped her coffee. It seemed he was ready to get to the point.

"You've seen them together more often than us recently." He asserted. "Do you think there might be… _more_, going on?"

Natalie sighed inwardly. Alright, so the kid's plan had worked, and like Gwen had feared, Sandra and Carl _had _brought it up with her. Not that this was the first time anyone had brought it up in the group, Frank had started on about the potential for this weeks ago. Sandra and Carl had only cared about Ben getting better and stopping his inadvertent self-harm, and Natalie and Max had assumed that if it was a thing, it was a phase at best and no big deal.

Needless to say, they'd underestimated this. Tenting her fingers in front of her, she answered carefully. "What about the way they acted was so very 'different' that it made you worried enough to call me? I've seen them be close plenty of times, but nothing I wouldn't expect from children in their… situation." Aside from the obvious canoodling. But she was pretty sure that mentioning that one would go against her promise to the kids.

The other two exchanged a look. Carl hummed, continuing. "It's actually _about _that situation, rather than, err, that. I'm not being very clear here, let's just skip to the end-"

"No!" Natalie interrupted, startling both of her in-laws… and herself, because this was not how Natalie was supposed to react to Carl offering the benefit of a lifetime by getting to the point. She ought to be jumping for joy, but she really wanted to know. "I mean," she coughed into her hand. "the kids have, as part of their therapy, opened up to me more. Maybe I can make more sense of it if you tell me what, precisely, was so different." She gave them a rueful grin. "Though I likely won't be able to tell you my findings. Patient confidentiality and all that."

Carl eyed her curiously, but not suspiciously. Sandra did cock her head, though, and Natalie could see the gears turning in her head. She was the one that spoke up, quietly, slowly, eyeing the redhead for her reaction. "They talked like they were… _considering _each other romantically." She pointed out, succinctly and diplomatically. "Heavily at that. Put that together with the intimacy and..."

And you have credible reasons to be suspicious. Part of Natalie wanted to scream. Because sure, the kids' plan would have worked brilliantly, but only if they assumed that Ben's parents would take longer to catch on than they did, and weren't already at least a little suspicious.

For all that the adults underestimated the kids, it seemed they in turn were underestimating the adults. Natalie sighed internally. _The brats had better be grateful for this…_

She scoffed, waving her hand dismissively. "Hardly my dear. As far as I can glean from my talks with the kids, there's nothing going on there. As far as I can tell, not disclosing anything they actually said, Ben and Gwen rely on each other because they are the only one they have for comfort." She gave Sandra a look askance. "And my daughter can do better anyway, and she knows it."

Well, having a passable relationship with Sandra had been nice while it lasted. But going by the incandescent rage lighting up the blonde's eyes, Natalie was at least three months worth of cooling off away from being considered a friend again. She did not give the woman a chance to vocalize it, though, leaving her to stew.

Rather have her rage internally at Natalie as a distraction than be suspicious of Ben and Gwen. They weren't ready for that. "As far as I can tell, they rely on each other because, whatever they've been through, they went through it together. That's why no one else can give them the comfort they need."

Both Sandra and Carl tensed, anger dissipating from Sandra's features while the annoyed ruefulness that Carl adopted whenever she threw shade at Ben melted into a downcast look at the map in front of them. Natalie suddenly felt that this romance was the least of their problems.

"...about that, I may have a… _theory."_ Carl started, licking his lips, sounding parched despite downing the remainder of his mug just seconds earlier. It set Natalie on edge. "I borrowed the photo album dad made of the holidays. I guess, after seeing that closeness, I wanted to see where it started, see the change." He swallowed, looking Natalie in the eye. "And I guess I wanted to see my boy be happy again, even if on a photo."

Natalie wanted to protest that there were times that Ben was happy, that he needn't look far to see his son like that, but she found she couldn't. Ben had times where he smiled, where he laughed, but she'd seen enough of him to see what Carl saw: both Ben and Gwen moved like there was a constant weight on them. Natalie had thought, briefly, that it was the secret of their affection weighing them down.

But it was more likely that the secret of whatever trauma they'd suffered was the real cause. Ben and Gwen were happy around each other… but also the most burdened it seemed.

Ben and Gwen weren't happy. And given that the last time Natalie had seen her daughter be truly happy was when she was crying tears of joy over getting a _full night's sleep _for the first time in weeks… she could sympathize with Carl's plight. "Did you find it?" She asked in a near whisper.

Carl sighed, giving a hollow chuckle. "In glimpses." He admitted, sounding more bitter than he usually did. Sandra reached over the squeeze his hand, eyes sad. Natalie swallowed. Maybe they _all _needed a few rounds at the shrink. Hiding away how truly distressed they were was better for the children- they needed that solid foundation of normalcy and support that only a family could provide- but it was clearly wreaking havoc on Ben's parents.

Carl squeezed his wife's hand with a smile before looking Natalie in the eye. "But I did find something else." He started, voice clear again. "You recall how the news has been abuzz with stories about monsters and magic?" He asked her, almost rhetorically. Natalie's brow furrowed slightly, raising her mug to take a sip.

"In passing. I prefer not to follow those things as they happen. I'd rather check in at a later time to get a complete story. But Frank has been an avid follower of that particular news reel." If mostly because the outlandishness of it all was fuel for his imagination when his soaps and romance novels failed him-

No. No, he couldn't mean-

"Surely you're not implying," the voice of a stranger tore from her throat, for she could never sound that timid, that scared, right? "that the kids were caught up in one of those things? Met one of those monsters?"

Silence met her question. Her wide eyes fell on Sandra, who could only offer her a sympathetic look, then they flicked back to Carl, silently pleading him to deny what he was so obviously implying. He would not meet her gaze, contrary to his wife. No, his eyes were focused in front of him, trailing down to the table.

Down to the map. The map on which, she could see now, the man had charted the route the kids had traveled with their grandfather. The map on which, spaced with pins and Carl's neat, precise writing, all the supernatural events of the summer had been plotted.

The map on which these two things aligned, perfectly. Her eyes snapped to a pile of news print-outs she had previously judged as just a stack of paper, sitting with deceptive sereneness on the edge of the table, before her gaze returned, painfully slowly, to Carl's. He looked as devastated as she felt.

"Not caught up in_ one_ of those events." He spoke, softly, and she could see both him and Sandra bow in on themselves slightly and Natalie realized that they too had tried to stave of acknowledging this. Until now.

"_All_ of them, Nat." He ground out, pressing a hand over his eyes. "They were caught up in fucking all of them."

* * *

"That's is a terrible idea, doofus." She groused, pointedly ignoring the pleased noises the boy made as he nuzzled into the back of her head like a needy cat. Or they way both their bodies swayed as the Vulpimancer gently headbutted them. They'd probably have fallen over if they hadn't already been seated on the ground. Ben's arms, slung around her shoulders, tightened.

"C'mon dweeb. Neither of us are gonna be able to play this cool. We might as well use that as an excuse to show grandpa how badass we are together."

Gwen grit her teeth as the Rustbucket quickly approached from the air. "Yeah because that went so well with your parents. I should just lock you in the bathroom so I don't have to deal with you until the spell wears off."

Ben stilled behind her, arms tightening around her shoulder. She could feel his breath on her neck as he helped ward off the chill. "Can you?" He asked and it… wasn't a tease. Not even a challenge. No, instead, her cousin was asking if she could be apart from him right now, if she wanted him there. Knowing that he'd be there if she asked him did wonders to calming her steadily fraying nerves.

Because she did need him. Locking him in the bathroom would only mean she'd break down the door in a minute or two, and not just because of the spell. Or he would. "I… I think I'll be better when we're inside the Rustbucket." She confessed as the vehicle finished its landing just a few yards away from them.

Ben's hold on her tightened, a comforting squeeze, and she raised her hand to grasp his arm in a small squeeze of her own. She didn't need to tell him that nearly crashing to her death above a forest of bare branches and then getting attacked in a field of dull green grass had put her far too close to the edge for comfort.

He already knew. And in a way, she was glad for the spell, because if nothing else, that anchoring feeling Ben always gave her was amplified by it. "We'll just roll with it." She decided. Behind her, Ben nodded.

Grandpa Max eyed them with amusement when he came up to them, eyes lingering on the now docile Vulpimancer before resting fully on Gwen. She grinned innocently. He did her the courtesy of not pointing out the fragility she could feel in the expression.

"So, when I said 'subdued them' I may or may not have forgotten to mention that I used a love spell to do that..." Ben buried his face in the crook of her neck with a snicker and she squeaked. "S-So we might be a little more, uhm..." In love than usual? More clingy? More affectionate?

"More _you _than usual?" The old man finished for her, looking far too amused with the entire ordeal.

"...fine darn it. Yes, more us than usual." She grumbled, yanking Ben's head back by his hair, pointedly ignoring his pained yelp. There was no heat in it, and he stuck close to her as they got to their feet.

They followed grandpa Max back inside the RV and while he pulled out a busted down Vulpimancer translator and set about fixing it ("Might just be useful for talking to our guest."), Ben and Gwen moved just to the other side of the booth, contend to watch him work and give the full report on what happened. At least, until she spotted the mutt laying down under the window.

The creature had been riding the high of her spell, for sure, but now that she had some distance she could see the exhaustion in the emaciated figure. Gwen wasn't sure if it was the love spell that made the state of the mutt pull on her heartstrings, or if it was just her. Ben, of course, noticed, biting his lip with worry too.

"You know, Vulpimancers love fried squid. It's similar in texture and taste to their preferred prey." Grandpa Max offered, startling them (and letting Gwen realize that she and Ben were holding hands under the table, and when had that happened?), not looking up from his work, a faint smile ghosting across his lips. "I think we have some next to the worms in the fridge, and some flour and spices in the cupboards..."

Gwen shot him a wide grin, hoping her smile wasn't as watery as it felt. "Have I told you that you're the best?"

The old man laughed, eyeing them both. "Only a million times, but it never hurts to hear."

Ben grinned to, already moving out of the booth seat. "Well aside from me, you are the best-"

"How does your ego fit through the door, again?"

Ben didn't respond to that, instead tugging her out of the seat with a grin, catching her stumble just so he could peck her on the forehead which did not cause her to grin like a lovestruck fool and even if it did it was because of the stupid spell. So there.

Her heart did stutter for a moment when she registered the intimacy of the act (and their position because she was all but leaning on Ben and nuzzling her cousin's face), but grandpa Max seemed to roll with it. Turns out this love spell cover was working quite well. Ben waggled his eyebrows at her.

_Told you, cootie queen. _

She shoved him away and marched to the kitchen, staunchly ignoring her blush and the way he snickered. They whipped up the fried squid easily enough, some degree of cooking skill being a necessity when surviving with their eccentric grandfather. All the while they jabbed at each other, kicked at each other shins and bickered.

But whenever they had to reach around each other they would linger too long. Wherever they could they stood side by side, hip to hip if possible. And all too often they would reach out to brush hands for no better reason than because it felt pleasant and they couldn't quite stop themselves. Gwen was nervous for the first minute of it all, but relaxed into it slowly. They had their cover. And grandpa Max was busy fixing his machinery anyway.

So when they waited for the chicken to fry Gwen just leaned in and placed a chaste kiss on Ben's lips, and was delighted to feel the smile grow against her own. She was nearly okay. But she could feel that Ben was still tensed up.

Pulling back just as quickly, she scooped the finished meat into a bowl and handed it to the doofus. "Go play with the mutt." She told him, poking out her tongue at him. He didn't take the bait.

"...are you sure?" He asked, warily. Her grin faltered a bit.

"Yeah, no worries. I'll call you if something… happens."

Ben eyed her for a long moment before leaning in to brush foreheads, for only a second that felt like an hour, before he turned away and went outside to present the _very _happy Vulpimancer with the treat. She smiled despite the hole in her chest that she felt at being apart again. She shuffled into the booth seat across from grandpa, moving up to the window so she had a front row seat of the mutt devouring the food. Ben spotted her and waved. She returned it with a sigh.

"You sure you don't need Ben here, princess?" She turned her entire body to face grandpa properly. He was still preoccupied with the machinery but she could feel his attention on her. She nodded.

"Yeah. I'm okay in here. Ben's not really, though, but if he cracks now I'm not sure if I'm strong enough to help." And they'd already had at least one time where they'd both broken down at the same time, and while it had done wonders for the intensity of their affection, it had been terrible at the time.

"...so you're keeping him busy till you recover, giving him a poor animal to be a hero for." The old man surmised. "Sometimes, it's frightening how well you two read each other."

Her eyes trailed to the window and she smiled at the sight of another Vulpimancer playing chase with the mutt, Ben happily yipping in the growing gloom. "It's what we do."

Grandpa Max hummed in agreement. "Not all you do, it seems." From the corner of her eye she saw him look up, and slowly turned her head to meet his raised brow.

"What do you mean?" She asked, curiously.

Grandpa Max sighed. "I've seen you two together for months now." He stated, simply. "And you and your cousin have changed a lot in that time, become closer than I could've dared to hope. And you needed that, after what you went through. It seemed only natural." He turned his gaze to the window, where she could see Ben's human form play-wrestling the mutt. She hardly noticed it, with the wind roaring in her ears. Part of her had no idea what they were talking about, while another part knew precisely where this was going.

"But for the last few weeks in particular," he continued, quietly, "I've wondered if what I was looking at wasn't something… more, than what I assumed it to be." His gaze returned to meet hers. He quirked a smile. "And then my granddaughter tells me that they've been hit by a love spell, that they'll act like it until it wears off, and then my grandchildren proceed to act _exactly as they have been acting_ for the past few weeks, if not more."

...it was the mall all over again. That time at the mall, the day she met Anna and Lizzie, where she realized how many unknown touches she and Ben shared. What the two of them looked like to those who saw them.

Grandpa had seen their closeness and understood it as comfort, just as she and Ben had for a long time. And now they had all but told him, without knowing it, that what he had been seeing was in fact love.

This was, she supposed, the part where she vehemently denied his implication. Made an excuse. Made up some magical mumbo jumbo that would muddy the waters. Or just pretend innocence, that she didn't understand what he was even saying. It would've worked on her parents, though grandpa Max knew her better than that.

Instead, she rested her head against the window, seeing the boy in the encroaching darkness. He was sitting on the ground now, a look of focus on his face as he clutched his elbow and the glowing green veins of the Omnitrix danced up his arm, lighting a fire in his eyes. She sighed, softly, wistfully.

"...why did I have to fall in love with Ben, grandpa?"

Grandpa met her question with silence for a long minute, and Gwen waited for the ax to drop. For the rejection. For the anger. For the hurt.

She should've known better. It was grandpa Max, after all.

"Do you remember Xylene?" He asked, nonchalantly, returning his focus to the small, oval machine he was tinkering with. He didn't wait for an answer. "I met her when I was much younger, on a joint mission between her militia and the Plumbers. I forget the name, I think it was disbanded a few years later. We hit it off immediately." He quirked a smile. "Her blunt candor reminded me so much of my Rose, I absolutely adored her." His expression faltered and Gwen immediately reached across the table to grasp his hand, squeezing it.

"When- when Rose died, I was… distraught. I threw myself into my work, more than anything. The kids were fully grown, and Vera looked after them as best she could. I couldn't." He raised his head to the ceiling, inhaling deeply. "Xylene, she... she was there for me when I needed someone to rely on. There had always been something between us, we just never acted on it. I was married, she was of an entirely different species. These things didn't matter in the end, for one reason or another. She was there, and she was what I needed."

He quirked a humorless smile. "Plumber work asks an open, tolerant mindset of a person. You can't work together with people from all walks of life and aliens from distant planets if you're weighed down by close-mindedness, not in this line of work. But for many of my coworkers, my 'unnatural relationship' with Xylene somehow invalidated all they knew of me. They grew cold. Some even tried to have me fired on account of it."

Gwen bit her lip, leaning back into her seat. "That's… horrible." She didn't even want to think about how she'd feel if her friends and family turned on her for being in love with the stupid doofus.

"It was." The old man agreed simply, lowering his gaze back from the ceiling to smile at her. "Which is why I wouldn't put anyone else through that."

_Which is why I'm not going to put _you _through that. _Gwen felt that tension in her shoulders slowly ease away, a feeling of relief spreading through her that reminded her very much of when her mother told her she was going to help them. She breathed out a shaky breath.

"Thanks grandpa. I-I figured you would be the most at ease with it but..." But that didn't stop the fear of rejection. The old man smiled sadly, an understanding smile that she'd never treasured more.

"Gwen, loving someone who loves you back is _never _wrong, and I won't ever treat you worse for doing so." His kind smile morphed into a full blown grin. "And I gotta admit, you two are adorable together."

"Grandpa!" She spluttered, beet red.

"No, seriously. I think the Germans have this phrase for it, 'you tease that which you love.' Should've seen it coming, really, when you think of it like that."

"I can't believe I'm hearing this."

"Although," his grin turned sour, "we're going to need to have a serious conversation about you two getting any sweeter. Growing up with Vera and then raising Frank was bad enough. If there's anymore sweet romance in my life, I'm going to get heart problems."

Gwen rolled her eyes so hard she saw the back of her skull, but smiled regardless, her gaze finally settling on the boy outside. When he caught her looking, he jokingly flexed and winked before he was tackled down and licked by the mutt. She snickered.

"No promises."


	22. Chapter 22: Alone

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10.

A/N: I live, I die, I live again.

I've noticed that this story has become a bit fluffy as of late. We now return you to your regular program.

**Warning: violence and mild gore.**

* * *

"C'mon, let me do it!"

"Not gonna happen, cootie queen!"

"Pleeeeeeaaase Ben? Be my hero?"

"The kitten eyes and the flattery would work better if you weren't smirking."

...well okay, he had a point there. She dropped the pleading look, narrowing her eyes at the translator Ben was holding away from her. A clunky device, but grandpa Max had assured her it would work.

Now it was just a matter of who was going to _hold_ the thing when they started asking the Wildmutt outside questions but Ben wasn't budging. And grandpa seemed more than content to just relax against the kitchen counter, holding back laughter as he watched them bicker.

Pity he was there. She had about a dozen ways to make Ben melt, especially if she really broke out the big guns, but she couldn't exactly do that when their grandfather was right there, that'd be super weird.

...then again, the old man knew about them now. And accepted them. He might as well learn to live with what that meant the hard way. They'd sure had to. Gwen's smirk returned in full force. Ben's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"What are you thinking dweeb-?" She raised a small hand to rake along his jaw, cutting him off soundly. She trailed the hand up, reaching his ear- and part of her wanted to give it a good twist just to spite him, but as effective as that would be, so was her current plan.

And this one was more fun.

So she ghosted her fingers over the shell of his ear, mentally ticking it off her list of erogenous zones- and trying very hard not to flush remembering that article because she needed to play this cool- before she tangled her fingers in his hair, pulling him to her.

She got to see his eyes widen just before she slammed their mouths together, his thinned lips meeting her welcoming ones. He resisted the dangled fruit for all of a second before he melted into it with a frustrated groan.

Behind her, a surprised but amused chuckle escaped grandpa Max. She smiled against Ben's lips, pulling on his bottom one with a sly smile as she pulled away.

Oh yeah. Definitely more fun than yanking his ear.

She really needed to figure out that time travel spell, just to tell her slightly younger self 'Hey girl, in a few months, you're gonna like kissing the doofus a heck of a lot more than kicking his butt, so save yourself the trouble and just dig in.'

She was pretty sure it felt under the definition of self-harm to make your younger self explode from the details of their future relationship, but she'd take it anyway. And probably steal a kiss from younger Ben just to see the look on his face.

_Jeez, when did I become such troublemaker? _She mused, pulling back completely, not quite able to fight down the blush on her face and entirely unable to stifle her giggle.

She took in the expression on Ben's face, somehow completely dazed and disgruntled at the same time. And smitten, if his blush was anything to go by. Her amusement faded into fondness. _Right. When I started liking this idiot. _

His arm had lowered, though. Gently prying the machine from Ben's boneless fingers, she stepped around him, smacked him on the butt (earning her another chuckle from her grandfather and a yelp from Ben) before she skipped outside.

The Vulpimancer was interested to see her, at least, immediately raising her head of the ground and cocking it. Gwen felt a strong twinge of unease, because night had fallen and she was surrounded by trees and this alien had attacked her and Ben just a few hours ago and-

She exhaled a breath, searching for the remains of her love spell, finding the fading but strong thread that tied her to Ben, and to the mutt in front of her. She'd be fine. She had to be fine. Calm down.

Hanging onto that thread for dear life, she grinned up at the mutt, holding out the machine and switching it on. "Okay Scooby, let's do this!" She spoke into it, the machine emanating the message as a series of grunts and growls. The mutt seemed more confused than anything, even if her tail was wagging- oh wow, this one even had a tail!- and Gwen just snorted. "So, what are you doing here?"

She figured she'd start easily, but the creature stilled, bringing her head closer to the machine, growling it's answer into it.

The answer came a second later, haltingly and plagued by static, but ultimately clear enough for her to hear. Clear enough to stop her heart.

"_Hunt Red."_

Her blood chilled and wind rushed through her ears, heart pounding a million beats in one second but none of the fluid it pumped around could warm her frozen limbs.

That couldn't mean what she thought it did.

Distantly, she felt the thread of her love spell snap, the last vestiges of affection falling away with nothing more than a sad, mournful whimper. Her breathing quickened, but she couldn't suck in enough air couldn't see couldn't breathe couldn't _move-_

The vulpimancer rose to it's full height in front of her, but she barely saw it, eyes fixed on the machine as it blurred in front of her_. _A low growl came to her ears, so low she could barely pick it up. But it was enough for the machine.

"_Kill Red!"_

Her eyes snapped up just in time to see the creature rear back, jaws spread wide and fangs gleaming, a vision growing dimmer through rapidly gathering tears.

But she could still make out the fist of diamond that crashed into the beast's face and the strong, warm arms that picked her up and carried her away.

* * *

Sometimes, Max felt it would be all too easy to believe the lie. To pretend, and forget that you were pretending.

He could pretend like they had left danger behind them on Xenon, that it would never follow them home. He could pretend that he was retired, and that he had nothing to worry about anymore.

He could pretend that his grandchildren were, if not fine, at least getting _better_.

And it was so _easy_ when he saw Ben and Gwen experiment with the watch, tossing ideas at each other and bickering like an old married couple- which they always had, even if the hand holding was a new edition that spoke of the genuine care that lay at the heart of every biting word.

It was so _easy_ when he saw Gwen bounce a ball around with magic just because she could, eyes alight with wonder all the while. And Ben's eyes would be the same when he watched her do so. Max used to think it was because he was as fascinated by magic as any child ought to be. In hindsight, it was just as likely that the boy only had eyes for her.

And even if that was new, and still a little shocking, seeing the two of them be warm, affectionate and loving with each other in a way that reminded him so viscerally of Frank and Natalie when they were younger, it was so, so easy to pretend that they were happy. That they would be fine.

Kneeling at the edge of the bottom bunk in the backroom of the RV, watching the miserable huddle on top of the blankets that was his granddaughter shudder at every sound, body wracked by anguished sobbing and gasping breaths, Max was reminded of the fragility of that small bit of peace they had carved out for themselves.

Ben was dealing differently. He was still outside, in front of the crystal prison he had hastily constructed for their guest, standing guard. And he would not move from there. Max wanted to find a tranquilizing gas bomb he had- in one of the closets in the backroom- just so Ben could come in and get his own comfort in.

But he could not leave his granddaughter like this for even another minute, and Ben was in no state to help her.

Max grit his teeth, heart breaking all the while but knowing that his frustration and sadness with the situation was not what mattered right now- truthfully it never would, because he deserved every second of that pain for letting Ben and Gwen fly so close to the sun without saving them when they inevitably burned themselves.

He hadn't been there when they needed him most. But he was here now, and if nothing else he needed to do what he could.

So he, slowly, reached out to place a hand on her shoulder. Gwen's breath hitched, body tensing even more, but Max soldiered passed it. In the past, whenever he saw the kids cope with their experiences, the other had been there for them, and he had refused to intercede, not thinking it was needed, not wanting to intrude on something that was clearly something between them alone.

Now, as he wracked his brain for a clue on how to help her, he regretted not being there for them in the aftermath either. At least then he would've known what to do, instead of having to find out at the worst possible time.

He moved to sit on the bunk beside her and slowly, tentatively, pulled her up to face him, desperately wanting to pull her in for a hug but knowing that she needed her space, knowing that her fears revolved around having no escape and needing to get out. Gwen was not looking at him, eyes scrunched shut. It did nothing to stop the tears still streaming out of them.

He didn't know if she was shaking in fear or because his touch on her biceps was constricting her, but he needed to do it- needed to ground her. If this one was one of his young recruits he'd drag them outside so they could suck in the evening air, give them as much space as he could.

But Gwen would not do well being outside right now. Not at night, not when surrounded by rugged nature on all sides.

Not with the growling coming from within the crystal prison. Not with her cousin, her bedrock, being right in front of her and too shaken himself to be the help she needed.

"Gwen." He spoke up, softly but clearly. "You're okay. You're safe-"

"No!" The girl denied, eyes snapping open briefly to dart around in fear, her shaking became more noticeable, her struggles more violent and her breathing more escalated. Max tried not to let his own panic show on his face.

"You're safe _now._" Max stressed. "Gwen, Gwen I need you to look at me. Please."

He was not nearly as stern or steady as he liked to be, but Gwen had always been better at listening than her cousin. And while he had to hide how unsettled he always was to see his granddaughter like this, Max did nothing to hide his pride when she actively wrestled herself under control, at least enough to open her scrunched up eyes and meet his gaze.

Her breathing was still heavy, her struggles had devolved to gripping the arms with which he held her own, nails digging into his skin. Her eyes were blown wide, red from crying, tear streaks clear on her face and she looked broken and miserable in a way that made Max want to go turn Vilgax into sushi and feed him to the Vulpimancer outside.

But she was meeting his gaze and fighting to come out on top and that was all that mattered. And it made him proud.

"You're safe _now._" He repeated, quickly adding "Ben's got the Vulpimancer caged and is standing guard. You're in the Rusbucket, with me, and I promise you I will not let anything happen to you in here. I know-" He started when she slowly started shaking her head, "I know it doesn't feel like that right now. But it will _pass _Gwen. It always does."

He tentatively released her left bicep and raised his hand slowly to cup her face. She flinched imperceptibly when the hand connected, only to lean into the touch a second later. Not quite the enthusiasm Ben got when he calmed her down, but Max could work with it. "We're going to do some breathing exercises together. I'm sure your mother showed you how. We're going to breath in-" he inhaled, "hold our breaths for four seconds," he exhaled slowly, "and release it for eight. We'll do it together, okay? On three."

It took them five minutes of that to calm Gwen down to the point that she, at least, was no longer panicking. That didn't mean she was fine, far from it, but at least he could now help her conventionally.

_Or she can help herself. _Max reflected ruefully when she threw her arms around his middle as far as they could go and buried her face in his chest. He hugged her back tightly, hoping to remind her that even if Ben wasn't there and even if being held close was not always possible for her...

He hoped she remembered that, before, what was so shortly ago but seemed so long, and must feel like an eternity to her, that she came to _him_ for comfort, and that he could still help if she needed it.

"You always give the best hugs." She admitted with a sniff. Max smiled, cradling her closer, if possible.

"It's all the extra padding." He admitted. "Take a good look kid, Ben's going to be just as bad when he passes forty."

A soft, broken giggle escaped her and Max took it as a personal victory. "That's fine; means there's more of him to love." She pulled back giving him a tentative smile. "And more of you. Thanks, grandpa."

He grinned. "Anytime, pumpkin."

Her smile widened before turning a little sheepish. "Uhm, not that I don't appreciate it, but…" She trailed off, biting her lip. He chuckled, taking her meaning.

"Ah, of course. Who wants a hug from their grandpa when they've got a handsome young man in the bag?" He asked, shrugging and rising to his feet, delighting in Gwen's rapidly spreading blush. She was still shaken, that much was obvious, but she was coherent. Steady enough to think and talk passed it.

"I-It's not that. I just think he needs a hug too. And I think I'm okay to do it now. I just…"

Max nodded, sobering slightly. "Can't go outside right now." He ruffled her hair. "No worries, princess, I'll go fetch him." He reached for the closet and pulled out the gas tranquilizer- a small grenade like construct really. It should be enough to knock out an elephant, it'd do the trick for a Vulpimancer.

Making his way back to the exit, he added "Don't think I didn't notice you not denying that Ben is handsome. I'm telling him that."

"Don't you dare!"

Max quirked a smile, happy to have his feisty little lady back. But his mirth didn't last when he exited the RV. The surroundings were dark, even if the stars and moon overhead gave _some _illumination. Enough to show the crystal container, at least. A jagged, ugly pyramid of a thing, with only a small hole near the ground for air.

But the scenery and the prison, or its prisoner, were not what killed Max's joy. No, it was Ben standing in front of it in his human form, alert, ready, eyes narrowed angrily at the construct.

Every inhale of breath made the green glow in his eyes brighter and caused green luminescent veins to spring up down his face, neck and arms, every exhale caused them to dim. It was more than a little eerie.

Even more disconcerting was the poorly disguised shakiness in his frame and the hand clutching the short sleeve of his left shoulder, fingers bunching the fabric in a right hold while his left and clenched and unclenched under the Omnitrix.

Still, it was a clear relief to Max that the boy was not panicking nor trying to scratch his wrists open to remove the device. The old man took the small victory and ran with it.

"Ben." He called out, tossing the tranquilizer to him. When the boy caught it and gave him a guarded, confused look, he elaborated "Pull the pin and roll it through the hole. It'll knock it out for the next few hours at least."

Ben eyed the weapon for a long moment. "She." He said. "It's a she." With a bitter downturn of his mouth, Ben did as instructed, pulling the pin and tossing the tranquilizer into the small hole at the bottom.

Some of the gas escaped a moment later, but more than enough stayed inside. While the Vulpimancer yelped and whimpered, it did not break out and only moments later, a loud thud signaled it being dead to the world.

But instead of relieving himself of guard duty and rushing into the RV as Max had expected, the boy just stood frozen, gaze seeming very… lost.

That wasn't a look that suited Ben. Even if he had a bad idea, Ben always had some inkling of what he ought to be doing- uncertainty and deliberation were Gwen's specialty. Ben was the action, Gwen was the calm.

And it should be no question of what the boy's next action ought to be: get inside the RV and get some proper mutual comfort in. Approaching, Max placed a hand on his grandson's shoulder.

"Go inside, Ben." He told him, gently, and when it didn't look like Ben was going to move, he added "I think Gwen wants some comfort from her boyfriend." He tried for a smirk, but it fell flat when they boy actually flinched at the remark, shuffling his feet and staring a hole in the ground.

"She shouldn't." The boy responded, quietly, shaking his shoulder loose and stepping out of Max's reach. The old man's brow furrowed, cocking his head.

"What are you talking about?" He asked, not unkindly but very confused.

Ben exhaled a shuddering breath, running an agitated hand through his hair and he looked _tired. _Perhaps putting the beast to sleep had been unwise- if nothing else it had kept Ben focused but- no. No, he couldn't think like that. A soldier on a mission would sometimes need focus over rest, and while he had assured Gwen that they were safe, Max knew better. Danger could rear it's ugly head soon and if Gwen was too shaky to fight, that made Ben their best option.

But even disregarding that even endangered soldiers needed rest eventually to function, Max needed to remember that, contrary to what some of his former coworker had whispered over the summer, Ben was _not_ a living weapon or a soldier.

He was a _child_.

And that made this entire situation so, so much worse.

"It- It's just that..." Ben started, waving his arm haltingly, seeming to try and grasp the words he needed out of thin air. "It's the same as before." He groaned. "This thing was sent because Vilgax wants the watch, but it _wasn't_ gunning for me, it was gunning for _her_. Something is out for me, and it ends up hurting her. _Again._" He let it out in a string, seemingly relieved to get it off his chest, and while Max was tempted to let him keep going to just get it out-

"That's _not _your fault-"

"What does that matter if it just ends up the same?!" Ben interrupted, sharply, eyes snapping up with a heated glare.

Max only narrowed his own, refusing to be taken aback by Ben's fierceness or the eerie glow in his eyes. He knew his grandchildren well enough- when it became too much for Gwen, she had a good cry, let herself feel bad for a bit, and then proceeded to fix whatever was getting her down methodically.

Ben didn't do sad, not usually. Ben got angry, and proceeded to beat whatever was making him angry into submission. A pity Vilgax wasn't here to be punching bag. "It matters when you, son, are blaming yourself for something that _isn't your fault._ Vilgax is doing this, not you. _He _is the one at fault. And we _will _stop him, Ben. You've stopped him with less than this."

Ben held his glare for a moment longer before his face crumpled and he all but collapsed into a seated position, staring morosely at the grass in front of him, uncaring of the cold water seeping into his pants.

"I don't know _how _to stop him." Ben admitted, teeth gritting in frustration. "He keeps hurting her- keeps hurting people I love, and I don't know how to stop him." He held up the Omnitrix. "I can't give up the watch, or he wins and will just kill us anyway. I can't keep the watch without having her be hurt. I'm supposed to stop him but I _can't._" He finished, miserably.

Max walked the short distance to the boy and knelt in front of him, placing his hand on Ben's shoulder again. They were shaking imperceptibly, and he wasn't sure if that was because of the cold, or because he was suppressing tears.

"That still doesn't make any of this your fault, Ben." He soothed, understanding why Ben felt like this on more than one level. Max had had so many times in his life where things went completely sideways and he was left to pick up the pieces of something he couldn't change, could never have predicted or prepared for, and still find himself wracking his brain trying to find out where he screwed up.

Ben met his eyes, misery radiating of him like heat. "But isn't it my responsibility?" He asked, jiggling the Omnitrix for emphasis. "You and Gwen always tell me that I need to be responsible- and even if I'm not doing the bad thing, it's still my job to _fix _it, right? Isn't that the point of being a hero?"

He raised his hand to place it on top of Ben's head, gently ruffling his hair. "It's _our _responsibility. You're a child, Ben. An amazing one, but still just a child. It's not on you to save everyone. We can do that together."

Ben seemed only mildly mollified by the support, eyes turning downcast again. "It's still my responsibility to save _her_." He countered, quietly.

Max was stopped from asking more questions by a bright streak of light moving across the distant sky, demanding his and Ben's attention. His brow furrowed.

_It's not coming toward us. Looks like a meteor from here- _

_Meteor's don't make course corrections. _

He rose to his feet, heartbeat quickening. _And it's headed towards- _

A flash of green saw Ghostfreak swiftly take off from the ground, the night giving it speed the day could never, in hot pursuit. "Ben!" Max cried out but it was far too late.

The old man mentally rattled off some choice words for the situation. Ben was an amazing child, and one heck of a fighter, but he was far from emotionally stable right now and he had no back-up-

A flash of blue caught his peripheral vision and he whipped his head around, just fighting the urge to scream when Gwen's magical form dissipated a few feet off the ground and she landed in a crouch, breath ragged and eyes wild. Max rushed over.

"No, Gwen- you're not- Ben's got this, he's strong. You stay put, I'll go after him-"

"He's not strong right now!" Gwen countered, slapping away the hand that reached for her. "I'm not leaving him alone. And he's not leaving me alone again!" She seethed, though her strong talk and harsh glare were undercut by her shaking frame and teary eyes.

But when she called forth her magic form a second time, it stabilized quickly enough, and with a strong leap she shot into the air and flew of in pursuit of Ben.

Max didn't keep the choice words in his head this time and rushed inside the RV to empty all the batteries he had to get the Rustbucket flying again. But even with that it was going to take too long.

"C'mon, c'mon..." he muttered as he grabbed the communicator. He had a long distance call to make. He might not be able to fix everything, but he sure as hell wasn't going to let his grandchildren shoulder all of this alone again.

When the call went through, his chest relaxed minutely and he spoke quickly. "Please, tell me that you're close!"

* * *

Wind whipped around her face, casting her ethereal hair this way and that, the rushing almost drowning out the sound of her heart in her ears.

Almost.

She grit her teeth, focusing on keeping her form stable and aloft. The night sky was clearer up here, the stars bright, and she could almost pretend she was just out and about stretching her powers, enjoying the sensation of flight the likes of which she'd only ever felt before when she could cajole Ben into giving her a ride on Stinkfly's back.

Not that she actually would go out on her own to just fly like this. She knew her powers were not really as stable as Ben's were. She'd want to have him around to catch her if she dissipated.

The thought alone almost made her spiral down into the seemingly endless forest of dark, nigh barren trees – _you're above them, they're not gonna get you, breathe –_ but she shook it off as best she could and stabilized her form, glowing eyes fixed firmly forward, following the dim light moving towards Bellwood in the far distance and pointedly not looking at the endless woods beneath her.

Ben was not around to catch her if she lost focus, after all. Ben was the one in need of catching.

Sure, his Ghostfreak form (and why was that thing so bloody fast in the night? She'd really not given it enough credit when she last raced it) would not dissipate like hers, but that didn't matter.

Ben was at least as shaken up as she was. She could feel that much in her very bones. He could definitely still win this fight, whatever fight it was, but he'd do so _alone_. She'd have to wait for him _alone_.

She was not strong enough to face _anything _alone right now and neither was he. And if she were honest, a part of her was chasing him down because she was going to absolutely chew him out for leaving her behind _again _when they'd promised each other that they'd stick together!

She got it, he was totally thinking he was protecting her, probably thought she wasn't even up for a fight, just shot off in the heat of the moment – all things she understood and could agree with.

But he'd _promised_-

A sharp pressure wrapped around her ankle and _yanked, _startling her from her thoughts and from her power, dissipating in a flash of blue fire as the sky twisted around her and the air roared even louder and where was up and what was happening-

Desperation sparked hot and fierce when the spinning world stabilized for just long enough to show her that the ground was coming up fast and with a cry she reached deep, mana flaring, blue flames engulfing her as the pressure around her ankle was burned away and strength returned to her body.

A second later, she hit the treeline _hard,_ tumbling through the branches and colliding with the forest floor, tumbling through the barren undergrowth until she came to a bone cracking halt against a stray boulder.

Her form dissolved a moment later and she twisted until she was seated against the rock, groaning and panting and trying very, very hard not to cry.

She wanted to. So much. She'd already been having a bad day, and frankly, she could add 'heart stopping plummet to Earth and only surviving because of unreliable magic' to her list of things that were gonna be ruining her sleep for the next decade or so.

And blinking through the haze of tears (how did she keep making those? Shouldn't her tear ducts be done by now?) she only saw the darkness of the surrounding _forest. _

Yes, today was a very bad day.

She scrunched her eyes shut and sucked in a shuddering, fortifying breath. She couldn't cry now. She had to get out of here. She had to go find her doofus. She had to yell at him. Loudly. With all those curse words mom never let her use.

And then she needed to huddle up somewhere with her idiot and have a good cry and a solid day of cuddling.

She tried to hang onto that thought as she struggled to her feet, one hand on the rock as she rose. Her legs felt weak and shaky, probably from adrenaline more than damage (she hoped). All of her was at least a little sore.

A cursory probe of her mana told her that she was getting back on track wrestling it under control, and that she ought to have enough to keep going-

Her head snapped up at the sound of dirt moving. Her heart had already been beating a mile a minute, but now it went even faster. She knew _why, _though, and was thoroughly distracted from panicking by hope and dread.

It might be grandpa. It might be Ben, coming back to find her.

Or it could be whatever dragged her down here in the first place. Given by the sound of branches snapping and the shuffle of it as it creeped around the dark clearing, she had to assume the latter.

Channeling all her fear and misery into anger, a neat trick that Ben had always been prone to, she raised her hands in a battle ready stance, mana slowly stabilizing and rising to her call. Her foe crept closer, twigs and branches snapping in its path and she focused her attention on the silhouetted treeline, the spark of magic coming to her hand-

Roots coiled slowly, ponderously, as the silhouette of a nearby tree moved towards her and her heartbeat was gone a second later, hot anger replaced by ice in her veins as the last vestiges of her magic giving out showed limbs stretch out to block out the already faint moon, vines creeping towards her over the forest floor and a gaping maw opening.

* * *

Ben wasted no time in blasting off after the flare of light in the distance at a speed that was staggering for anything that wasn't XLR8. Ghostfreak worked best in the dark and when Ben was feeling particularly negative emotions.

He had plenty of those around. He was sad. He was scared. Above all, he was _angry_. Angry at Vilgax, angry at the mutt, angry at _himself_.

They hadn't been fine, not really, but they were getting _better_. They were getting help. And they'd been attached at the hip out of need, but they were also together and even if that sometimes felt more than a little surreal, it was something that he, that they, could greedily cling to as the one thing that didn't melt down around them.

And then Vilgax had to show up and wreck it all over again.

The only good thing about this was that he knew what the pounding in his skull and the beating of his ethereal heart meant. Being pissed off had been his default setting for a long time.

Usually at Gwen. Now, he was pissed off for her sake. It was a good thing she was in no condition to follow him right now. She'd be angry at him for flying off, but he needed her to be safe right now. Needed her far away from the danger.

And he needed to let off some steam.

With a rasping snarl he closed the distance to the flying light, a Heatblast, he noted, colliding with it and tearing his clawed fingers into it. The flaming body cried out in pain, and Ben echoed the sentiment with a hiss.

The fire hurt like _hell _but Ben was not letting go. Instead, he pulled himself closer and on top of the still airborne alien and shifted into Diamondhead, relief washing through him as the pain decreased to a manageable level.

And he was grimly satisfied to see that the added weight of his new form did as expected, sending them hurtling toward the forest below. The Heatblast in his grasp struggled, snarled and flared its flames brighter, but Ben refused to let go, merely tightening his hold and closing his eyes.

They hit the ground on their sides, both of them winded hard before they bounced apart. Ben was on his feet quickly, glad to see that the Heatblast had not taken the opportunity to blast off again but was instead eyeing Ben warily.

Ben eyed it back, and was dismayed to note there were scars all over its body – jagged lines in its magmalike exterior and twisted portions of hide that looked every bit as painful as the mutt's had, safe for one metal contraption attached to its shoulder.

The boy grit his diamond teeth, wrestling down his temper as best he could. It was tough going.

"We can protect you from him." He said without preamble. "You don't have to do this-" He was cut off by a ball of fire to the face, only shielding himself with his arms on the last seconds.

That was rude, but the angered scream that followed was what really rattled him.

"_You _protect me?!" The creature roared, sending another volley his way. "It's because of you that I'm in this mess!"

Ben winced more from the words than from the attack. "I-I didn't do this to you, Vilgax did-"

"Because of you!" The Heatblast returned, still keeping Ben at a distance with flames. Ben was thankful for the wet and cold forest- at least it wasn't catching fire.

Yet. He had to make this quick.

"He plucked me up and hurt me because you angered him!" The fiery alien continued, seeming to huddle in on itself, equal measures of anger and fear. "But he said he'd let me go if I did my job..."

Ben took the momentary relief to slam his fists into the ground, causing a small wall of diamond to spring forth that he shot towards his adversary, slightly more to the left of it. Ben shifted his form after he sent the wall forth.

His foe dodged away from the wall, predictably, so it had no time to prepare for two of Fourarms' fists to slam into it.

The Heatblast tumbled through three trees before coming to a stop in the dirt. Ben followed at a pace, seeing that even when crashing through trees it wasn't strong enough to light them on fire.

_This _is what Vilgax sent in after him? "You won't do your job." Ben informed the downed creature, looming over him. He bit back whatever teasing or mockery he'd normally throw in. This one might be more malicious than the mutt, but it was still a victim. Gwen would be furious at him being petty enough to torment it. "You're too weak to beat me or outrun me to Bellwood. Just give up."

The Heatblast groaned, slowly righting itself and facing Ben. "That wasn't my job." It said, struggling back to its feet. Ben shifted back into Diamondhead, ready to cage it, when it spoke again. "My job is to give the plant beast an opening."

Ben narrowed his eyes in consternation. 'Plant beast?' 'Opening?' That made no sense-

"_Hunt. Red." _

Ben's eyes widened, memories of roots shifting filling his hearing. Memories of jaws opening wide and vines approaching.

"_Kill Red!"_

Memories of her scream when she was dragged under-

He instantly spun around only to be stopped by a blazing first to the back of his head, knocking him down and a flaming foot on his back keeping him pinned. Ben glared venomously over his shoulder, the Heatblast flaming much more strongly than it had been and the smile on its face was malicious.

"Now, now, let's not interrupt my associate's dinner."

* * *

Gwen barely slowed down when she crashed into another tree, feet tangling in the roots as she all but fell to the ground, only to correct at the last second and stumble forward, reaching blindly through the dark forest.

She didn't care where she was heading towards. She just needed to get away from the sound of creeping vines behind her.

A distant part of her was screaming, _screaming_ that she was being ridiculous. That she could tear this creature limb from limb with her magic without breaking a sweat. That she was stumbling blindly when she could will light into existence with the barest whisper.

But she couldn't hear that part of her at all. Not over the pounding of her heart or her blood roaring in her ear.

And every second that she slowed down, took a moment to catch her breath, try to wrestle her racing heart and thoughts under control, she'd hear it.

In the absence of her stomping footsteps and the slowing of her heart, she'd hear the scraping sound of roots dragging themselves too close. If she lingered too long, vines would lash out to grasp her, and she would scream, summoning her magic in sheer panic and striking out with a volley of lightning, a spell she couldn't consciously remember falling from her lips in a hoarse gasp.

It would provide enough power to send her attacker back.

It would provide enough light to see the flailing vines and the glinting of sharp teeth, even through the tears that poured endlessly.

And she would turn and run again, only for the cycle to continue. She could've been at this for only ten minutes or all of ten hours and she wouldn't be able to tell.

But she could tell that her limbs were burning and getting tired. Her breathing was getting heavier and her mana was depleting. The realization only made her fearful heart shrivel further, put on that extra burst of speed, maybe she could lose it in the forest, it was so dense and dark here-

She came to a sudden halt when she crashed into what felt like a rock surface, one she could only very dimly make out. She whipped her head around and quickly found that she was hemmed in by trees that were too thick to run past, she needed to double back.

The scraping sound behind her caused her stomach to drop. Shivering, she turned around, pressing her back against the rock behind her, eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness.

She didn't need to see to know that it was there, blocking her. That she was tired. That she was weak.

That she was… trapped, with no way out.

The realization made her legs give out from under her and she slid down to the ground, tears trailing sluggishly down her cheeks, breaths shuddering.

When her surroundings grew impossible darker still and she felt the heat of the Wildvine in front of her, even if she could barely see it, all she could muster was a whimpering hiccup. She tried to reach for her mana but found it depleted and scattered. She reached for her strength but found her muscles screaming and useless.

All she managed was closing her eyes and by some miracle dragging her knees up to her chest and curling her arms around them as she felt hot, rotten breath wash over her.

This wasn't the first time by a long shot she'd been this close to her… end. She'd had plenty of close calls over the summer. At first, when she encountered those moments, she'd think of her parents. Of grandpa. Of school, even. Later in the summer, she would often think of Ben too. She knew she did the last time a Wildvine dragged her under. The knowledge that she'd kept him safe the one relief she was allowed.

Now she just felt cold and miserable with the knowledge that he'd left her to die alone in the dark.

Again.

* * *

Ben crashed into the ground with enough force to leave a small crater, his diamond form taking most of the blow even if it still cracked. He grit his teeth.

The Heatblast had, unironically, turned up the heat and was blazing far more strongly and fighting far fiercer than it had been previously, the cracks in its hide that Ben's earlier assault had caused lighting up brightly.

Nothing Ben couldn't handle. Nothing master control wasn't leagues ahead of, and with the way malice just rolled off the alien with every wave of heat, Ben could easily shunt aside misgivings about giving this enemy hell.

He would if he could focus for long enough to do it. Every fiber of his being, be it made of diamond, flesh or fire, was screaming for him to get away and find Gwen!

Ben knew the Rustbucket was armed to the teeth and while he knew grandpa would rather die than let anything happen to Gwen (an outcome Ben also wanted desperately to avoid), he needed to be there for her!

He wasn't leaving her to face a Wildvine again. But neither could he let this numskull get away to jump them later, or worse, fly on to Bellwood. Ben moved to his feet and shifted into Four Arms. Its hide was not as tough as Diamondhead's, but still resilient against the heat and the stronger alien wouldn't need as much time touching the Heatblast to inflict a lot of damage anyway.

Ben straightened fully, loosening his muscles and got ready to tackle his flaming foe.

Said foe smiled cruelly. "You seem distracted. Maybe this will help." The creature reached up and tapped the metal contraption around its shoulder, causing it to give a static screech before it turned quiet again.

Ben was about to skip out on seeing what it did and just take the flaming sucker out when he heard the sounds of wood scraping coming from the contraption- as well as the sound of sobbing, labored breaths and pounding footsteps. Despite the warmth emitted by the Heatblast, Ben felt the bite of winter acutely.

"It seems," the other alien sneered, "that my associate is getting his food _to go_. I wonder, did he already clear out the vehicle and chased her away from it? Or," It chuckled darkly. "perhaps she tried to follow you and got a little lost in the woods?"

The Heatblast shot forward, propelled bit its flames, and slammed into Ben hard, knocking him back flat on his back. Before Ben could retaliate, its grabbed Four Arm's face and pushed its flaming fingers into the red alien's four eyes.

Ben screamed, his flaying arms knocking the smaller alien off Ben, hard, but when he shifted into XLR8 in hopes of getting his sight back, he found it to be of no use, the wound just carried over. The sound of the Heatblast shooting forward again compelled Ben to swiftly dodge, an easy feat in this form.

"Thinking of running? Of finding her?" The creature taunted, breathing hard. "Where would you go? She could be _anywhere._"

Ben tried not to let the reminder that even if he did defeat his foe he had no idea how to find Gwen in time- and the continuous sound of her running and crying over the machine didn't help. He shifted again.

He normally avoided using Wildvine for Gwen's sake and his own distaste with the alien, but it could heal itself and that was what counted. Regrowing the eye as quickly as he could, he only restored it just in time to get barreled over again by a solid flaming fist to the face, something his plant like form did not take well too.

Ben bit through the pain, quickly shifting into Diamondhead and slamming up a protective pyramid of crystal around himself before the Heatblast could repeat the stunt with his eyes.

The creature laughed again, slamming into the pyramid hard enough to crack it. "Fine, fine, take a breather. But I wouldn't take _too _long." Another slam and Ben moved to reinforce it, thinking that he could probably launch the pyramid in shards again, maybe give Four Arms another opening-

"I can still hear her breathing, but I think she stopped running."

Ben froze, and that was all the opening it needed to knock through the pyramid, slam into Ben and knock him back hard enough to crack Diamondhead's head jarringly, causing Ben to shift back into himself.

He groaned, world spinning, heart pounding and tears stinging his eyes. His vision was doubled, blurred, and even if he couldn't feel any wetness dripping from his head, his skull stung. His thoughts were getting hazier, but through the murkiness one thought remained clear.

He was failing her again.

Trying desperately to stay awake and focus, he saw the flaming monolith stand over him, smiling cruelly through the cracks all over its body, breathing labored and heavy, seeming happy despite its sorry state. "I wonder which of you will stop breathing first." It raised its hand.

* * *

The hot breath in front of her face disappeared with a gurgling sound that had Gwen whip her head up in both fright and hope. Maybe grandpa Max had caught up, maybe Ben had found her. She struggled to her feet and lit an orb of light in her hand, steeling herself for the sight of the Wildevine.

She hadn't expected to see _Gluto_, of all creatues, to be tangled up with its many vines and forcing half his own body down the Wildvine's throat and the most bizarre attempt to suffocate it.

Some relief filled Gwen- and she was going to kiss the slime alien if they made it through this, boyfriend be damned- but she didn't dare cheer yet. She tried to reach for more mana, but found only the barest hint, and even if Gluto was pushing the creature away from her, it was still clearly an uphill battle.

With a sinking feeling, Gwen realized that this wouldn't be enough.

But the temporary relief that Gluto had brought her was enough to bring the panic down, and instead of loosening her last bit of magic on the monster, she shot it into the sky where it exploded in a bright light, darkness returning as soon as it faded.

When the Wildvine ripped Gluto from its mouth and threw that smaller alien beside Gwen, she only saw it happen in the barest hints of shades and heard the whimper of Gluto when he hit the ground beside her. She could sort of see the Wildvine turn back towards her, the hope she felt earlier slowly leaving her when she caught the faint flint of teeth and the rotten stench of its breath finding her nose again. But when they Rustbucket came shooting out of the sky and hit it full force, Gwen allowed herself to feel relief.

* * *

The Heatblast barely got out a scream before shards of diamond lodged into its shoulder and chest, managing only a rattling grunt before it was shoulder tackled away by… Tetrax?

Ben wasn't entirely sure, head still spinning. He duly noticed the Petrosapian walking over to the downed enemy and doing… something. A distant part of Ben knew what was happening, but he couldn't quite form a coherent thought.

The world spun completely and he felt himself being picked up and carried off. The suit Tetrax wore was tough and stiff while the arms hidden underneath were hard and unyielding diamond. It was uncomfortable, but it helped keep him awake.

He remembered that he needed to stay awake.

"Wha-" He slurred, trying hard to focus. "What happ-"

"Don't speak." Tetrax informed him. "And stay awake. You've suffered a concussion. There's a medical bay on the ship that can fix you up, but you need to stay awake. I'll answer your questions after."

No no no that wasn't good enough, he only had one question. He frowned, but the effort made his head sting. Tetrax glanced down, harsh face softening just a little. "She's safe, Ben."

The tightness in his chest relaxed and before long they arrived at a clearing where he saw Tetrax's familiar ship- or he assumed the blurry blobs were actually one and the same ship.

Ben suffered through the healing process, more out of impatience than actual pain- Tetrax just injected some fluid into him that would 'help with the swelling and the damage' before he went to boot up the ship, giving Ben strict orders to 'stay awake just to be safe.'

While a part of Ben desperately wanted to sleep, as his head slowly cleared off fog anxiety started to creep in. By the time the ship landed, not too far from where they Rustbucket had been parked in the first place, right next to the prison he'd made for the mutt, his stomach was a tight coil of dread.

Grandpa Max came out of the Rustbucket quickly enough, and Ben tried not to let the tired, hard look throw him. Or the fact that there were tree remains stuck to the front of the RV.

Some questions, Ben didn't want to know the answer to. But he was relieved to learn the old man was alive and eagerly jumped into the waiting arms, allowing himself to take in all of the affection he'd pushed away earlier. But as soon as the boy was set down, his eyes drifted to the RV. Grandpa Max followed the look, sighing tiredly.

Ben didn't ask how Gwen was doing.

Grandpa didn't offer anything either, merely clasping Ben on the shoulder as if to say 'good luck' before making his way over to Tetrax.

The boy took a deep breath before making his way into the Rustbucket, nodding to Gluto where the blob rested by the doorway. It seemed just about everyone knew to give them some privacy, and while normally Ben was thrilled to have his dweeb alone, it didn't feel like nice at all.

Gwen lay on her side on the bottom bunk, facing the room. She wasn't sobbing though, even if the tear tracks on her face told him she had been. Mostly, she just looked tired and scared.

Ben made his way over cautiously and, when she made no move to stop him, climbed onto the bottom bunk beside her and laid himself down in front of her, facing her. Her green eyes focused on him slowly, ponderously.

The room was well lit, warm and kinda cozy, quite literally their home away from home. It didn't provide any comfort for either of them.

They remained like that for a long minute, seconds trickling by, until Ben tipped himself closer, brushing their foreheads together. He felt her body relax ever so slightly and took it as an invitation to reach over, trailing his fingers from her cheek, passed her ear to tangle in the hair at the nape of her neck, running his fingers in what he hoped was a grounding way.

It wasn't a gesture of comfort, not really. Ben didn't feel like he was worthy of providing it. Gwen probably didn't even want to receive it.

But they needed it.

When Gwen finally spoke, her voice was broken whisper. "Where were you?"

Ben closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, trying not to let the faint accusation in her voice stop his heart. He considered half a million responses and apologies. None sounded good enough.

"Not… not with you." He said, opening his eyes.

Her face cycled through anger and sadness before it crumpled, eyes scrunching shut and her head bowing. Ben pulled her in close, and she buried her face in the crook of his neck, a sob finally tearing from her throat, shoulders shaking minutely.

Ben held her close, whispering apology after apology into her hair. She accepted none of them. He didn't blame her. When her shaking stopped, he pulled away slightly to give her space.

"Do you… do you want me to go?" He asked, not knowing how far he'd even be able to go before either her fears or his dragged him back.

But he couldn't stay for his own sake. He couldn't be that selfish.

Gwen's eyes were huge, wet and green when she looked at him, misery and a sort of resignation.

She nodded.

Ben tried to ignore the way his heart cracked a little at the sight. He swallowed hard before untangling their limbs, not realizing that they'd become so intertwined in the first place. Every limb he reclaimed felt cold and useless. He turned his body and placed his feet on the floor, but before he could rise he felt a her delicate hand on the small of his back, fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt.

He waited. For her to ask him to stay, to show him any sign of undeserved forgiveness, anything.

Her hand fell away and Ben again tried not to crumple then and there. Instead, he sucked in a deep breath, stood, and walked out of the room without a backwards glance.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for any mistakes. I'm not an action writer, or particularly fond of writing angst or torturing the kids, so this chapter was very hard on me. Paired with a world upside down and a persistent writer's block, this took forever.

They'll get better. Somehow.


End file.
